The Newest Member of the Team
by Secrets.of.the.Wild.Rose
Summary: Stargate control has recruited a new member to become a part of the Atlantis team, but will she be more of a positive addition or a problem? Please Review! OC all the regulars. Each update will be an 'episode'.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is the first of a 'season' involving an original character. It takes place in a slightly AU version of season 5. What you need to know is that Carter's in charge, Beckett's back, but McKay and Dr. Keller are not dating. If you have any questions please ask! And if you find it all entertaining, please review!! Reviews are like a lifesource :) _

Episode 1. Settling.

"Last chance to back out."

Sophie glanced over her shoulder at the woman who had spoken. She was standing behind the ramp with an overly enthusiastic smile, which was clearly meant to be encouraging. Sophie, however, took little encouragement from the smile, and rather felt like running, but there was nowhere to go. Pulling up all the confidence she could muster at the moment, she shook my head.

"Thanks Colonel, but I think it's too late for that. I've come this far, and all my bags have already been sent through and everything." Sophie adjusted her cropped gray blazer and straightened out the matching pencil skirt. "I'll be fine."

"We'll be in touch," the Colonel assured her. "Have fun."

Sophie focused ahead, staring hard at the brilliant blue circle in front of her. She took a deep breath and walked forward through the stargate, bracing herself for anything. What she hadn't braced herself for was nothing. Going through the stargate felt like _nothing_. She had a sensation of complete absence, nothingness, not even breathing, but it was over almost instantly. Sophie soon found herself on the other side of the stargate, catching her breath and fighting dizziness; she silently cursed herself for wearing stilettos. The glowing blue vanished from the stargate, and she found herself in a bright spacious room, not unlike the control room she had just left at the midway station, though this one was clearly much more sophisticated.

"Welcome to Atlantis, Miss Marlowe." A tall woman with short blonde hair approached with her hand outstretched. "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter."

"Right, you're in charge," Sophie remembered the brief rundown she had been given before leaving earth. "It's good to meet you," she shook Colonel Carter's hand. "Is it normal for me to be feeling a little…unbalanced right now?"

"Yes, the first time through the stargate can be unsettling," Colonel Carter said, "but you'll get used to it. The first time I went through, I almost got sick." She smiled. "All your bags have been brought to your quarters."

"Thank you."

"Now, I assume you'd like to be shown around, get a feel for the place so you'll feel more comfortable."

"Yes, please."

Before they had a chance to move, the gate activated again. A man up behind the glass beckoned to the colonel.

"It's Colonel Shepherd's IDC," he announced.

"Good, open the gate," Colonel Carter commanded. She stepped aside and motioned for Sophie to do the same.

Sophie watched the gate flicker on again, and decided she had no desire to ever pass through it again. Her dizziness hadn't faded yet. A man suddenly dove through the gate, aiming his gun back towards the gate. He landed on his back and slid across the floor. Not a moment passed before another man hurried through the gate, also aiming his gun. This man's entrance, however, was accompanied by gunfire from the other side. Bullets flew through the gate along with a form of laser beams, which Sophie assumed were an advanced alien form of weaponry. She darted out of the way as yet another man barreled through the gate; like the first he too slid across the floor. She didn't move far enough, however, and though partially hidden behind a short wall, one of the laser beams grazed her arm. Pain seared through her arm instantly, and she wanted to scream, but bit her lip to fight it.

"Everyone's through, seal the gate!"

Sophie didn't know which direction Colonel Carter's command had come from, but the next moment the gate shut off and the gunfire ceased.

"Colonel Shepherd, explain yourself."

The first man who had entered the gate stood and holstered his weapon. "Sorry Colonel, but it was safe when we dialed. They came out of nowhere and we didn't have time to warn you."

"Well, this time you were lucky," Colonel Carter approached him. "Make sure you don't take that risk again."

"Umm, Colonel…" Sophie stood, but the combined effect of the dizziness and the pain in her arm made her lose balance quickly and she stumbled.

"Not so lucky it would seem." Colonel Shepherd approached her cautiously, "who's this?"

Colonel Carter came to Sophie's side quickly. "Miss Marlowe, I'm so sorry! This doesn't usually happen…"

"It's fine. I'm okay."

"You don't look okay."

Sophie looked to the other man who had spoken—the second one to go sliding across the floor—and felt briefly alarmed by his appearance. Everyone she had met so far seemed so clean and professional, but this man looked like an only slightly reformed version of Tarzan, but he did look genuinely concerned, and his bright eyes were mesmerizing.

"It's just a graze," she told him. "I've had worse."

"It's a bit more than just a graze," Colonel Shepherd decided. "I know how those rays burn. You're brave, but you should get to the infirmary." He glanced at Colonel Carter. "That is assuming she's someone we're on friendly terms with?" He lowered his voice. "Again I say: who the hell is she?" Sophie's dizziness won out, and she stumbled forward, but Colonel Shepherd caught her instantly.

"Colonel, this is the newest member of your team," Colonel Carter explained.

"Damn, that was happening today?"

"Clearly."

"I forgot," he said, "I thought she was coming tomorrow." He looked apologetic. "I should have been here to greet you."

"It's fine," she assured him. Sophie still wasn't exactly sure who he was or what position he would have in her new career.

"Save the apologies," Colonel Carter demanded. "Help me get her down to infirmary, and we can make proper introductions there."

"Yea, sure thing," Colonel Shepherd agreed. He hesitated for a moment, seeming to consider the best option and finally decided to lift her into his arms and carry her.

"This isn't necessary," Sophie argued. "I can walk." She didn't want to be a burden on her first day. "Put me down."

"You can't even stand," the wild man pointed out.

"Yes I can," Sophie persisted. "Please put me down."

"Don't argue," Colonel Shepherd demanded. "It's my fault you got shot, the least I can do is get you safely to the infirmary."

"It's just my arm. There's nothing wrong with my legs," she pointed out. "Please let me walk."

He set Sophie back on her feet, but stayed closer than was necessary as Colonel Carter led the way down to the infirmary. The wild man, and one other followed. As they walked, Colonel Carter used her earpiece to inform the infirmary of their approach and a young woman, clearly the doctor, greeted them at the door.

"Shepherd, what did you do?"

"It wasn't me," he protested. "Well, sort of, but only accidentally."

The doctor turned to Sophie and smiled. "Hi, I'm Dr. Keller. It didn't take long for you to be initiated, did it?"

"Initiated?"

"Being shot at," she explained. "It's like a right of passage here on Atlantis."

"Oh," Sophie nodded, "then I guess I'm flattered."

The doctor shook her head, "don't be. It'll get old fast."

The idea of being shot at frequently had not been mentioned when Sophie took the job. There had been mention of risk, of course, but this wasn't what she had been expecting. She hoped the insecurity didn't show on her face.

"Come and sit down," Dr. Keller instructed. "I need to have a look at your arm and probably give you stitches."

"Stitches?" Sophie grimaced.

"Yea," she smiled, "depending on how deep the wound is."

"It's just a graze," she repeated. "It really feels fine."

"It might feel fine, but that doesn't necessarily mean it _is _fine. Sometimes the wounds that feel the best are actually the worst." She motioned Sophie onto an examination table and she hopped up obediently. "Can you remove your jacket for me, please?"

Sophie reached to unfasten the buttons, but her arm burned suddenly and she winced.

"Fine, huh?" Dr. Keller shook her head.

"No, really," Sophie insisted. "It's just when I move suddenly…it's a little sore."

"Sore how?" she asked.

"Umm," she hesitated and tried to think how to describe it properly. "It sort of burns. Like the inside of my arm is on fire."

"And yet you feel fine?"

"Well…"

"Yea right," she smiled a little patronizingly. "I'm going to remove your jacket now and get you stitched up."

Sophie glanced around at the others, wishing they weren't all just standing there, staring at her like she was a helpless child they needed to protect. None of them seemed likely to leave though. Then she noticed that one of the guys who had followed them was bleeding from a cut in his forehead.

"What about him?" Sophie asked quickly. "He's hurt too. His injury is probably much more serious than mine."

Dr. Keller glanced at the man in question and rolled her eyes. "Major Lorne, didn't I just patch you up yesterday?"

"It's been three days at least," Major Lorne argued.

"Sit on that table," she instructed, "and I'll have someone take care of you." She beckoned to one of the other doctors that had been hanging out in the background. Sophie didn't need anyone to tell her that Dr. Keller was the doctor in charge.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Major Lorne reached up to touch the wound, but pulled his fingers away with fresh blood.

"Like I said, sit down." Dr. Keller briefly glanced around the rest of the group. "Anyone else need attention?"

"I think we're all good," Colonel Shepherd answered. "Just get her taken care of."

"Do you guys think you can give me some space to work?" Dr. Keller requested of the team as she finished unfastening the buttons on Sophie's jacket. "It's not that bad, but definitely more than just a graze, and you standing around isn't going to get it done any faster." She set he jacket aside and began inspecting the wound on Sophie's arm. None of the others moved though.

"Colonel Shepherd still hasn't been introduced," Colonel Carter explained. "We came to the infirmary in a rush."

"Colonel, I respect formalities, but I think introductions should wait until after I've stitched her up."

"Actually," Sophie interrupted, "if it's all right with you, I wouldn't mind them staying."

"Really?" Dr. Keller looked uncertain.

"I could use the distraction," she explained.

"Distraction?"

Sophie felt her cheeks growing warm. She hated that their first impression was of her being so weak. "I don't do well with needles."

The wild man smirked. "You were ready to completely ignore the gunshot wound, but needles you can't handle?"

Sophie shook her head. "It's definitely not easy."

"Good," Colonel Shepherd spoke up, "it's decided then. We'll stay and get acquainted."

"Fine," Dr. Keller accepted their presence and started cleaning the wound.

"Miss Marlowe," Colonel Carter nodded to Colonel Shepherd, "Colonel Shepherd."

"Colonel John Shepherd," he reintroduced himself and then motioned to the wild man. "This is Ronon Dex, one of my team. You'll meet Teyla later. She wasn't on mission today because she's spending time with her baby."

"Baby?" Sophie repeated. "You guys have time for babies here?"

"It isn't exactly recommended," Colonel Carter explained. "Of course if anyone chooses to, however, we won't stand in their way. Teyla's baby has been a great joy for all of us here."

"And that's Major Lorne," Colonel Shepherd motioned to the guy being stitched up on the table next to her. "He's not a part of _my _team exactly, but he's one of my men just the same. He leads his own team though. You'll also meet Rodney later. He's off world on another assignment right now."

"It's good to meet you all." Sophie kept her eyes focused on Colonel Shepherd so she wouldn't see what Dr. Keller was doing with the needle. "Umm, can I ask though…what exactly do you mean by teams?"

"Sorry, Miss Marlowe, it's military terminology," he explained.

"Yea, I mean, I got that part, but I'm confused as to why I will be a part of your team. From what I can see, you seem to be pretty military-focused."

Ronon and Colonel Shepherd exchanged glances.

"How do I fit in?"

Colonel Carter stepped up to explain: "You will be part of Colonel Shepherd's team any time they venture off world for research or socializing. Naturally you won't be part of their combat missions," she smiled.

"Oh," Sophie nodded, "okay."

"What exactly do you do?" Ronon asked.

Colonel Shepherd glared at him. "Ronon…"

"Miss Marlowe is an anthropologic writer," Colonel Carter explained.

"A what?"

"She writes about people—cultures. She will be studying and documenting all the experiences we have with people from other worlds."

"Don't we already do that?"

"Not to the extent that Miss Marlowe will be doing. Command thinks we've been neglecting the details of the people and focusing too much on how Atlantis can benefit from them. Miss Marlowe will be researching the people and understanding how their cultures function differently from our own."

"That's really cool," Major Lorne spoke up. "I'm sure there's a lot to know about all these people that we haven't learned yet."

"Exactly."

"Hmph." Ronon shrugged. "Sounds boring."

"Ronon!" Colonel Shepherd swatted his arm, but Sophie laughed.

"I'm sure a lot of people would agree with you," she told him. "It's more interesting than it sounds though, I promise. Perhaps when I start my work, I can explain it to you better and you'll find it less boring."

He looked doubtful.

"Regardless of your interest level, Miss Marlowe will be joining our team, and we are pleased to have you," Colonel Shepherd assured her.

"Thank you," Sophie tried to sound as confident as he did, but Ronon's skepticism hadn't helped much. She still wasn't sure how she would fit in exactly. Sophie glanced down at my arm and grimaced as Dr. Keller pulled the needle through her skin. "Almost done?"

"Just about," she promised. "Only a couple more."

"Before you guys showed up, I was going to have someone show Miss Marlowe around and help her get situated," Colonel Carter told them. "Since you're back now though, maybe you'd like to show her around yourself. It would give you a chance to become better acquainted."

"Absolutely," Colonel Shepherd agreed. "That is if you're up to walking around a bit, Miss Marlowe…"

"Of course," she agreed, "but you really do have to stop calling me 'Miss.' My name's Sophie. 'Miss' sounds strange."

"Sophie," he repeated, "works for me."

"There," Dr. Keller finished the stitches, "all done. Now just let me cover it."

Sophie let out a breath as Dr. Keller set aside the sharp instruments. "You're very good. I barely felt it."

"I'm glad." She carefully placed a gauze bandage over the two-inch wound and secured it in place with surgical tape. "Now, I put some ointment on it to reduce the burning sensation, but if it persists, make sure to let me know."

"I will," Sophie promised.

She helped Sophie put her jacket back on gently, trying to move her arm as little as possible. "I'm sorry about your jacket."

Sophie glanced at the substantial tear in the sleeve. "It's not important," she lied. She decided not to mention that it was new and had taken hours to choose, wanting to have the perfect outfit for her first day.

Dr. Keller finished refastening the buttons and stepped back. "You're good to go."

"Thank you." Sophie slipped off the table, landing unsteadily on her stilettos.

"All right," Colonel Carter nodded, "I'm going to leave you in capable hands here, and return to my duties." She offered Sophie a final smile. "It's good to have you on board, Miss Marlowe."

"Thanks," she returned the smile, and the colonel left.

"Okay, so tour?" Colonel Shepherd motioned for Sophie to step ahead of him. "Ronon, you coming?"

He looked uninterested, but followed them out of the infirmary and down the corridor.

"Do you know anything about Atlantis yet, Miss Marlowe?"

"Please, I told you it's Sophie," she reminded him," and yes, I know some. All I could learn from the files. I know the history of the ancients and I have some grasp on their language, and…"

"You know the language?" Colonel Shepherd interrupted.

"Not fluently," she explained, "but I've been studying it, and I have an understanding of the basics."

"Wow," he stared at her, "that's impressive."

"Languages are one of my specialties," Sophie told him. "Well, sort of. I find studying languages to be very beneficial to my anthropologic research."

"Good for you." His tone suggested that he had little patience for that field of study. "So, do you know anything of the layout of the city?"

"I've glanced over the schematics," she answered, "but they were hard to follow."

"Yea, it's a bit of a mess in here, but you'll get the hang of it eventually." He pointed to a metal door directly ahead of them. "I'll show you the most necessary parts of this place, starting with transport."

"Okay…"

On the wall beside the door was a narrow row of three crystals, which glowed blue like the stargate. "These are the locks," he waved his hand over them and the door parted. "It's that simple." The door opened on a room no larger than a small closet. "This is a transporter," he explained. "You can think of it like an elevator, but the science is much more complex, and it is much more efficient." He stepped inside, and Ronon and Sophie followed, then the heavy doors snapped shut. "This map shows the entire city and the red spots show where the other transporters are located. You select the one closest to where you want to go, and you're transported there instantly."

"Instantly?" Sophie repeated.

"Yep," he nodded, "it's pretty damn instant."

"Where're we going?" Ronon asked.

Colonel Shepherd glanced at the map and touched a red spot on the screen. "Let's show her the mess hall. It's pretty essential."

A moment later the doors opened on a completely different corridor, though strikingly similar in appearance. The group exited the transporter and Colonel Shepherd led the way down the hall.

"Are we gonna eat?" Ronon asked.

"I wasn't planning on it," Colonel Shepherd responded. "You hungry?"

"I could eat," he replied.

"If you two are hungry, please don't let me stand in your way," Sophie spoke up quickly.

Colonel Shepherd seemed to consider it for a moment before shaking his head. "No, we should continue with your tour. Get you comfortable."

"It's fine," Sophie assured him, "really. If you're hungry, please eat. I don't need a tour."

"Yea you do," Colonel Shepherd insisted. "Like I said, this place is a maze. If you aren't shown the way around, you'll get lost every time you leave your room."

Sophie noticed Ronon looking towards the mess hall longingly. "Are you sure?" She asked them.

"Absolutely," Colonel Shepherd elbowed Ronon in the stomach. "We'll finish the tour, and then we'll all come and eat dinner here together."

"Thank you," Sophie smiled.

"Let's see, you've been to the medical bay, unfortunately," he grimaced, "and the gateroom…"

"Gym," Ronon suggested.

"Right, the gym," Colonel Shepherd nodded. "Let's go there."

They took the transporter to what Shepherd labeled the "east pier" and then led the way down the new corridor to a stairwell. He headed downward and the others followed.

"There are stairways like this at the end of almost every corridor," Colonel Shepherd explained as he descended. "Not as good as transporters when you've got a long way to go, but convenient for short distances."

Only a few steps away from the bottom, Sophie's heel wobbled and she slipped down the remaining steps. Ronon automatically reached out and lifted her up from beneath her arms, placing her back on her feet effortlessly.

"You okay?" Colonel Shepherd had turned around to help her, but Ronon had reacted first. "What happened?"

Sophie sighed, "nothing. I just slipped."

"Are you dizzy? Is it your arm?"

"No," she assured them, "I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." Sophie smiled up at Ronon. "Thank you for the help."

He shrugged.

"Okay, no more stairs," Colonel Shepherd frowned. "Flat surfaces only."

Sophie blushed, feeling immensely stupid for exhibiting her habitual klutziness in front of her new coworkers. She followed Colonel Shepherd down the hall silently, watching her steps carefully so she wouldn't trip. Ronan, she noticed, was staying closer to her than before, and she feared what he was thinking of her stability. At the end of the corridor, Colonel Shepherd stopped and waved his hand in front of another row of crystals to open another door.

"This is the gym," he explained.

Sophie peeked into the room to survey the equipment. From a glance, it proved to be very complete with all desired gym equipment, including a selection of free weights and mats. "Impressive," she mused.

"We also have a training gym," Colonel Shepherd told her.

"A training gym?"

Ronon stepped across the hall to a door directly opposite and opened it. "Combat training," he explained.

Sophie followed him and peered into the other room. This was an empty, circular room, supplied with mats and a variety of weapons mounted on the walls, clearly meant for sparring. "Cool," she pursed her lips together and pretended to be interested.

"Okay, next." Colonel Shepherd beckoned with his head and Ronon motioned for Sophie to follow. "What else do you want to see?"

"Umm, I'm not sure," Sophie shrugged. "What else should I see?"

"Don't know. A lot of it you'll discover for yourself. As long as you know where the closest transports are to the main locations, and the safe places to be in case there is any kind of emergency…"

"Which are?"

"Somewhere in the center tower," he decided. "Most likely. It'll depend on the emergency."

"Yea, this isn't helping very much."

Ronon smirked. "Don't they have a welcoming committee for this sort of thing?"

Colonel Shepherd looked momentarily reproachful, but then shrugged. "They really should. I'm good at action—not explanation."

"That's fine," Sophie told him. "Why don't you show me where I'll be staying? From there I can figure out what else I need to know."

"Not a bad idea," Colonel Shepherd agreed. "We mostly live in the towers closest to the central tower. It saves energy. You're in the south tower, level four."

"Same as me," Ronon told her.

"Right, same as Ronon," Colonel Shepherd confirmed, "so if you have any questions you can go to him for help." Ronon didn't seem quite as eager to offer the same assistance, but he shrugged and didn't argue. "The most direct way to that tower would be to take the stairs back up to the third level, where the transporter is, and then take that to the south tower." Sophie nodded, trying to memorize everything he was saying, but he was speaking quickly. "From there you can take the stairs to the appropriate level."

"Okay, so the stairs are back this way…" Sophie started heading in the correct direction, wanting to find the way all on her own. The guys followed her, letting her lead the way back up the stairs. At the top of the steps, she paused. "Umm…" there were three direction options, and Sophie couldn't remember which was correct. She took a guess and turned left, but a hand on her arm pulled her back.

"Other way," Colonel Shepherd told her.

"Oh, right," she turned right instead and the guys followed her down the corridor.

"I know it's hard at first," Colonel Shepherd said. "They all look the same."

Sophie was silent until they found the transporter, wanting to make sure she didn't make any more mistakes, but there were no turnoffs and she managed to find the way there easily. Glancing at the crystals on the wall, Sophie held out her hand and hesitated only a moment before waving her hand across them as she had seen Colonel Shepherd and Ronon do. The metal door parted and she stepped in proudly. The guys followed her in and waited for her to make the next move. The map appeared on the screen, and Sophie contemplated it carefully.

"Okay, so this is the control tower—the central tower," she pointed on the map, "and if we want the south tower, it must be this one here…"

"No," Ronon muttered.

"Oh," Sophie pulled her finger back before selecting the incorrect transporter location. "Then, this one…"

"No."

Sophie pursed her lips together and hesitated with her finger hovering above the screen. Ronon grunted and pushed her hand aside, selecting the correct location himself.

"Oh," Sophie nodded, "that one." The doors snapped shut and they were beamed to the appropriate location.

When the doors opened again, Sophie stepped back and allowed the colonel to take the lead again. He led the way down the corridor to another flight of stairs and this time headed up. Sophie started following and suddenly felt a hand on her elbow. Glancing down, she realized Ronon had taken hold of her. She frowned.

"In case you slip," he explained simply.

"I'm not going to trip again," she insisted.

He released her, but didn't look at all convinced, and they followed Colonel Shepherd up four flights of steps. At the top of the steps, they stepped into a slightly wider corridor, though similarly monotone. They encountered a few more people in this corridor, and Sophie felt as though they were all staring at her, evaluating her. She kept her head held high and hoped she appeared intimidating enough to quell any doubts they may have been forming of her.

The hall dead-ended at a glass door that led out onto a balcony. Two metal doors faced each other on either side of the glass door, but Sophie ignored them both and stepped directly up to the glass door. She let out a breath and her nose bumped against the glass gently.

"Come on," Colonel Shepherd opened the glass door, and she lost balance briefly. "You should see the view."

Sophie followed him outside eagerly.

"There are better views," Ronon told her as he brought up the rear.

"I haven't seen the outside yet at all," Sophie explained, "so any view is amazing."

Colonel Shepherd motioned her up to the railing and she leaned out over it. "It is pretty amazing," he agreed.

"It's incredible!"

"Wait until night," he grinned. "Then it'll really take your breath away."

"I can't wait," Sophie took a deep breath, taking in as much of the refreshing sea air as possible, before abandoning the view and following the guys back inside. She was delighted to find that her room was the door directly to the right of the balcony.

Colonel Shepherd opened the door and motioned her inside. "It's not much, but hopefully it'll be everything you need."

"It's great," she decided as she wandered the room.

It was larger than she had anticipated, much larger than an average dorm room, which was what she had been expecting. It was shaped like an "L" and there was a large window on the outside wall, revealing almost as great a view as the balcony. There was a sizeable bed against the back wall, with a small table beside it and shelves above. Against the left wall, there was a desk, with a tall bookshelf beside it. Around the corner, Sophie found a large closet built into the wall, as well as plenty of drawers, more shelves, and a floor-length mirror. The room wasn't at all cramped, and she could imagine it being quite comfortable with a few personal touches.

"I'm sure you'll want to unpack and get settled in," Colonel Shepherd pointed to her luggage that had been set in one corner of the room. "Do you want some help?"

"No," she shook her head, "I can take care of it."

"Okay," he nodded, "then we'll leave you to it." He stepped back towards the door. "Think you can find your way back to the mess hall on your own?"

Sophie nodded, "I think so."

"Good, then we'll meet you there at five," he glanced at his wristwatch. "That gives you about two hours to settle in."

"All right," she smiled, "sounds good."

Colonel Shepherd nudged Ronon and they left. The door shut and Sophie collapsed on the bed, grateful to have a moment alone to process everything she had just seen. Thanks to Dr. Keller's treatment, Sophie no longer felt the burn in her arm, and her dizziness had faded completely. She now felt strangely energized, despite the fact that she had barely slept in almost 36 hours due to anxiety. She was eager to unpack though and make herself at home; she wanted to become adjusted as quickly as possible. So, nearly two hours later, Sophie was still busily unpacking when she glanced at the clock mounted on the wall above her desk and realized she only had five minutes to make it to the mess hall. While unpacking, Sophie had removed her jacket for better mobility, and instead of redressing in the torn jacket she chose a plain black shirt from the dresser where she had completed unpacking her clothes. Due to all the vigorous organizing, her long hair had begun falling from the pins, which had been securing it, so Sophie tried shoving a few back into place as she hurried down the corridor to the staircase at the end of the hall.

She descended the steps, counting carefully to make certain she wouldn't miss the floor where the transporter was located. When she reached the correct level, she hurried down the corridor towards the transporter at the opposite end. She waved her hand over the crystals, smiling to herself when the doors parted, and stepped in to analyze the map. Sophie started losing confidence the longer she had to puzzle over the various possibilities—none of them looked familiar. Realizing how much time she was wasting, Sophie decided to pick one at random, but before she chose, she changed her mind and continued to debate the location. Before she could choose again, a hand slipped around her shoulder and selected one of the transporters.

"You don't have much sense of direction, do you?"

Sophie glanced over her shoulder to find Ronon leaning against the wall of the transporter, smirking. She frowned and didn't answer. When the doors opened again, she stepped out first and headed confidently to the right.

"Hey…"

Sophie grimaced at the tone in his voice. She knew exactly what he would say, so she turned around without a word and headed back in the opposite direction. He followed closely and she could hear him snickering.

"It's my first day, all right?" Sophie snapped at him.

"I didn't say anything," he defended himself.

"You didn't have to."

"It's easy to get turned around in this place," he told her. "That's why I was waiting for you."

"You were waiting for me?" She stopped walking suddenly and turned to him. "Really?"

He shrugged and kept walking. "Didn't want you getting lost."

Sophie felt instantly remorseful for her quick fierceness, and she apologized. He seemed indifferent to her apology and her snippy behavior. She followed him to the mess hall silently and at the door he walked through first.

"Sophie," Colonel Shepherd quickly made up for Ronon's silence, "were you able to find us okay?"

She shook her head and glanced at Ronon. "Not without help."

"I'm sorry, I should have come to get you," he decided. "Going over directions once is never enough here."

"It's fine," she assured him, "Ronon came for me."

He looked to Ronon, a little surprised. "Good…that's good." Turning his attention back to Sophie, he motioned her towards the long buffet table set up at the end of the mess hall. "Did you get settled in?"

"Not completely," she told him, "but it's a start."

"If you need anything else, like furniture, let me know. There's a lot of stored stuff you can use."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

At the buffet table, Colonel Shepherd handed a tray to Sophie and then took one for himself. "You help yourself," he explained. "Take what sounds good." He began loading food onto his own tray.

Sophie inspected the food curiously and was relieved to see it was all recognizable—no different than food from earth. She took a small sampling of a few different items and followed Colonel Shepherd over to a table against the glass wall that completely enclosed the mess hall on one side. He motioned for her to take the seat by the window, and he sat beside her. A moment later Ronon took the seat across from her with his tray fully loaded, mostly with meat.

"Ah, Rodney!" Colonel Shepherd waved, and Sophie looked to see to whom he was calling. A man headed their direction, carrying his own fully loaded tray. He sat down in the empty chair and started speedily eating and talking at the same time.

"You should have seen this place we just came from," he said. "The trees were as tall as our central tower!" He shoveled a large bite of potatoes into his mouth. "And the sky…oh!" He sighed and took another bite. "The sky!"

"What about the sky, Rodney?" Colonel Shepherd pressed.

Ronon was eating silently, but he caught Sophie's eye and grinned, nodding in Rodney's direction. She returned the smile, and ate as she continued listening to Rodney's enthusiastic one-sided conversation.

"There were two suns," he announced, "but their radiation is clearly not as great as ours, because there was no harm caused to the planet. And there were two moons." He smiled at the memory and shoved another large forkful of food into his mouth. "But the sky…" he said again.

"What about the sky?" Colonel Shepherd repeated.

"It was the most incredible blue I've ever seen. It was so deep, it was almost purple!"

"Purple sky?" Sophie couldn't keep silent any longer.

Rodney looked at her quickly and frowned. "Umm, hello there."

"I wondered when you would notice her," Colonel Shepherd grinned. "Rodney, meet Sophie Marlowe, the newest member of our team."

He analyzed her very briefly and then put out his hand. "Dr. Rodney McKay," he introduced.

"It's good to meet you," she shook his hand.

"You too," he said. "You're an anthropologist correct? Our new culture expert."

Sophie wasn't too certain of the term 'expert,' but in order to build up their confidence in her, she simply smiled and nodded.

"You must be excited by this opportunity!"

She nodded, "being here is a once in a lifetime experience!"

"If you require any assistance of any kind, I'm sure I will be able to help you. I am a wealth of information, as I'm sure anyone here would tell you."

"Thank you," Sophie smiled at his pompous offer, "I'm sure I'll take you up on that sometime."

He nodded, smiling to himself and continued eating. "Good food tonight."

"You always like the food," Ronon mentioned. Rodney glanced at him, somewhat spitefully, but continued eating without argument.

"So, this planet you just came from, does Carter think it will be a viable possibility?"

"Possibility for what?" Sophie asked.

"We've begun searching for planets that we could use in case anything ever goes wrong with Atlantis and we have relocate."

"Is that likely to happen?"

"There have been instances in the past where we came close to needing to evacuate the city, and we haven't had anywhere safe to go," Rodney explained, "so we just want to make certain that if the time ever comes again, we'll have somewhere to go."

"I see," Sophie took a sip from her glass of water. "What do you think the chances are of this relocating having to happen?"

"We like to prepare for the worse," Colonel Shepherd told her.

"Good to know."

"So this world with the purple sky," Colonel Shepherd returned the focus, "is it a possibility?"

"Hmm, unfortunately not," Rodney answered. "Unless we don't mind cohabitating with a bunch of deadly bugs the size of a large baby."

"Yea, that doesn't sound very pleasant," Colonel Shepherd decided.

"Not so much," Sophie agreed.

"Exactly," Rodney continued eating.

"Teyla!" Colonel Shepherd grinned and waved, and Sophie looked up to see the woman approaching. She was carrying baby in her arms, and Colonel Shepherd quickly retrieved another chair for her to join them. "This is Sophie."

Teyla smiled warmly at the newcomer. "It is very good to meet you." She rocked the baby in her arms as she took her seat. "This is Torren, my son." She tilted his little body so Sophie could see his face. "When he wakes, I'm certain he will make a better impression."

Sophie nodded. "He's very sweet."

Teyla's eyes caught the bandage peeking out beneath the short sleeves of Sophie's shirt. "Have you been wounded?"

"Oh," Sophie tugged at the edge of her sleeve to cover more. "Yea…but I'm fine."

"It was my fault," Colonel Shepherd admitted. "I should have been more careful when were dialing in. We were taken by surprise and came in hot. Sophie got caught in the crossfire."

"Really?" Rodney frowned. "Hmm, that's unfortunate."

Sophie smiled at his indifference. "I'm fine," she told them. "Dr. Keller fixed me."

"We missed you today," Colonel Shepherd told Teyla. "Did you have a nice day off?"

She looked hesitant. "I did enjoy my time with Torren."

"But?"

"It was a complicated day," she told him.

"Complicated how?"

"Kanaan and I have been discussing some difficult matters," she explained, "concerning our futures." Colonel Shepherd continued to wait in silence, and so she continued. "It is becoming more difficult for us to be apart. He wants to see more of Torren and myself."

"It's only natural for a father to want to see more of his son."

"Yes, but with Kanaan on the mainland and me here, it is impossible."

Colonel Shepherd was clearly trying to decipher Teyla's expression. "He's asked you to move to the mainland, hasn't he?"

Teyla nodded.

"You're not going to though, are you?"

She shook her head. "After Torren was born you gave me the opportunity to choose, and I did. I have no regrets about my decision to remain here as part of your team. Torren means everything to me, but the mission is my priority. Kanaan must understand that."

"Has he thought anymore about coming here?"

She nodded. "That is a difficult choice though as well. For him, leaving the mainland would feel like abandoning his people. We both have responsibilities. It is simply unfortunate that they keep us separate from one another at this time."

"Teyla, if you need to take time off, just say the word."

"No, John…"

"I'm serious," he interrupted. "After the whole thing with Michael, you never really got maternity leave. If you want it now, you can take it. Take Torren to the mainland and spend some time with Kanaan."

She fell silent.

"You want to, don't you?"

"The offer is very tempting," she told him, "but at this time I believe it would be best for me to remain here."

"Glad to hear it," he assured her. "If you change your mind though…"

"I will inform you." Sophie yawned suddenly and Teyla smiled at her. "You must be tired after the day you have had."

Sophie nodded, "I am."

"You should go to bed," Colonel Shepherd instructed. "You're going to have a busy day tomorrow too."

"Want me to walk you?" Ronon offered.

Sophie contemplated it briefly. She wanted to refuse the offer and insist upon being able to find her way back safely, but she was tired and her arm had started tingling again. She nodded, and Ronon stood immediately.

"You coming back?" Shepherd asked him.

Ronon shook his head. "I think I'll turn in now."

"See you in the morning then." He smiled up at Sophie, "sleep well."

Ronon and Sophie left, and Rodney immediate started in on his concerns.

"She's the new team member?" He groaned. "She's just a kid."

"I do not believe her to be as young as you think," Teyla argued.

"She's too young to be a part of this team. That's for sure."

Shepherd shrugged. "I felt the same way when I met her. I talked to Carter about it even."

"Was Colonel Carter concerned?" Teyla questioned.

"Nope," he shook his head. "She's young, but Carter claims she's more than qualified. She has the degrees to prove it supposedly."

"Degrees?" Rodney scoffed. "She's barely old enough to have started school."

"She's twenty-four."

"Twenty-four?" Rodney laughed. "Like I said, a kid."

"I would think you had seen enough to realize that age does not always coincide with capability," Teyla rebuked him. "I was not yet twenty when I became leader of my people."

"Yea, but your culture's different."

"May she not be as capable as I? Perhaps you are making false assumptions."

"And perhaps I'm assuming correctly."

"Did you not assume something similar of Dr. Keller when you first met her?"

"Well, maybe a little but…"

"And has she not proven herself repeatedly?"

"Well, of course, but…"

"Then might not Sophie prove herself capable if given time?"

Rodney fell silent, and Colonel Shepherd snickered.

"Now, I think it is very important for us to show our faith in her. If she believes we doubt her, she will doubt herself."

Colonel Shepherd nodded. "I agree."

Rodney mumbled under his breath.

"Rodney," Shepherd nearly growled.

"All right," he surrendered. "I'll give her a chance."

"Good," Shepherd stood. "Then I'm calling it a night." He left the table, waving over his shoulder as he left."

The next morning, Sophie was up and dressed with the sunrise. She wasn't sure what sort of schedule the city was on, but she didn't want to be late for anything. She again fastened her hair back; she thought she looked older and more sophisticated when her hair wasn't hanging down. When she opened the door she found Ronon leaning against the doorframe.

"Morning," he greeted.

After recovering from the shock of his massive figure waiting for her, she managed a smile. "Good morning."

"Hungry?"

She nodded. "I wasn't sure what time it was…"

"It's time," he told her as they headed towards the transporter.

Ronon was quiet for the whole walk up to the mess hall. Sophie didn't like the silence, but she wasn't sure what to say to him. She was relieved when they reached their destination and found Shepherd and Teyla waiting at a table. Ronon and Sophie filled their trays and joined the others.

"Did you sleep well?" Teyla asked.

"Pretty well, considering."

"Considering?"

"Oh you know," Sophie waved her hand around, "strange place, lots of thoughts going through my head…"

"Of course," Teyla smiled. "I remember my first nights here. It was a while before I could sleep with perfect peace."

Shepherd and Ronon glanced at each other and shrugged, clearly unfamiliar with restless nights.

"Colonel Shepherd," Sophie looked to him, "you mentioned some items I could look through for my room…do you think I could find an extra bookshelf?"

Shepherd nodded. "I'm sure that could be arranged."

"Good," she smiled.

"Don't you already have one?" Ronon asked.

"Yes, but I packed more books than I realized," she shrugged. "Reading is a large part of my work."

"We'll take care of that as soon as we return from our mission." Shepherd sipped his coffee and sat back in his chair. He suddenly sat up though and touched his earpiece. "What's going on?" Sophie watched him curiously, wondering when she would get her own earpiece. Shepherd frowned and sat up straighter. "Copy that." He clicked off from the headset and finished the rest of his coffee in one large gulp. "Control room," he motioned to the others to follow.

"All of us?" Sophie asked.

He noted she hadn't finished her breakfast yet, but he nodded. "Yea, you should come too."

"Okay," Sophie stood, but picked up her coffee cup. "I can skip breakfast, but you do not want to see me without coffee in the morning."

"Fair enough," Shepherd nodded.

The group headed out of the mess hall towards the transporter. It was a bit snug, but the four of them stepped in together and beamed to the transporter at the central tower. Sophie wasn't becoming any less impressed with how smooth the transportation occurred. There wasn't even a ripple in her coffee.

"Colonel, what can you tell me about this planet we're heading to today?" Sophie asked as they headed up to the control center.

"We've never been there before," Shepherd told her, "so, I can't tell you anything other than the coordinates. Teyla?"

"I'm sorry, but this is a planet I have never been to," she apologized.

"Then I guess we'll all just have to be surprised," Shepherd decided.

They reached the bridge and descended the short flight into the main control room, where they found Colonel Carter and Rodney waiting.

"Good you're here," Colonel Carter greeted them quickly. "Colonel Shepherd, we've got a problem."

"We usually do," Shepherd sighed. "What's happening?"

"Major Lorne's team has missed their check-in."

"How late?"

"Two hours."

"Okay, I want two teams up in the jumper bay right away. Teyla, Ronon, gear up," Shepherd took charge immediately. "Rodney, send the gate address to Jumper 1." He glanced at Sophie as he headed back up the steps. "I'm sorry, but we're going to have to postpone our excursion until tomorrow."

"Of course," she nodded. "Good luck."

He set his jaw and nodded as he passed her. "Carter, if you don't hear from us in three hours, assume we aren't coming back. Don't send another team."

Colonel Carter tightened her lips, but she nodded her confirmation. When Shepherd, Teyla, and Ronon had left, Colonel Carter turned to Sophie. "I'm sorry your first days have been so eventful, but in all the wrong ways."

"It's fine," Sophie assured her. "It's helping me get used to life in the city."

"Very true," she smiled. "I appreciate your positive perspective."

"Here they come," Rodney announced, pointing up towards the ceiling. It opened and Jumper 1 descended. Shepherd saluted from the driver's seat and reversed out of the active Stargate. Two more jumpers followed, and then the gate closed.

"All right," Colonel Carter nodded. "Three hours."

"Will they be all right?" Sophie asked.

Rodney and Colonel Carter exchanged glances that showed they felt this concern often, but neither of them answered right away. Finally Colonel Carter sighed. "There are always risks, but Colonel Shepherd and his team are very good at what they do."

"Right," Sophie decided to hope for the best, which seemed to be all anyone could do.

"Now, since you'll be stuck here for the day, I assume you'll want to just continue looking around."

Sophie nodded.

"If you would like a guide, we can arrange something…"

"No," Sophie refused, "that won't be necessary. Colonel Shepherd showed me how to work the transporters. I can find my way around."

"Okay," Carter nodded. "Enjoy yourself, but be safe."

Sophie left the control room and chose to take the stairs down rather than the nearest transporter. She wanted to get to know every inch of the city; she thought it would help her feel more comfortable. Perhaps it was an unfortunate trait, but Sophie's curiosity was insatiable. Though sometimes it led to problems, it did make her good at her job. She never left a stone unturned. Right now, she was curious about Atlantis.

Following the steps down, she stopped off at each landing to look around. Most of the floors held an assortment of research offices, and some were mostly vacant. At the lowest level, she took a transport to another section of the city, selecting one at random. Here she found the Botany lab and was given a brief tour by one of the young, enthusiastic botanists named Travis. After getting her fill of exotic plant life, Sophie took the transporter to the opposite pier, where she found the main science department. She could only tolerate a few minutes of a lecture by Dr. Zelenka before fleeing to a different area. She accidentally found her way back the medical department and ran into Dr. Keller.

"Good," she smiled, "I was hoping you'd come back on your own."

"It was sort of an accident," Sophie admitted.

"Well, it was a lucky accident then," she said. "I need to check your stitches and change the bandage. Has it been bothering you at all?"

"Not really," Sophie told her. "It started tingling a little last night, but it didn't feel too serious, so I just ignored it."

"You should never ignore pain, or tingling," Dr. Keller reprimanded. "The littlest things can become very serious, very quickly."

"You sound like my brother." Sophie winced as Dr. Keller cleansed the wound.

"Sorry," Dr. Keller tried to be gentler. "Your brother?"

"He's a doctor too," she explained, "a surgeon actually. He's always worrying about me."

"What did he think of you coming here?"

"Well, he doesn't know where I am, of course, but he knows I'm working with the government, which made him very uneasy."

"Are you two close?"

Sophie nodded. "He's the only family I have. It was very difficult leaving him," she sighed. "He wasn't happy with my decision to leave." Sophie stopped herself and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get into all that…"

Dr. Keller shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. I remember how difficult it was for me to leave my dad." She covered Sophie's wound with fresh ointment and bandage. "If you ever need to talk about it…"

"Thanks," Sophie cut her off promptly. She didn't have much experience with girlfriends, and she didn't think she was ready to establish a new one. Her only close female relationship had been in junior high school—Carly, her partner in crime. Their relationship had been founded less on the value of conversation and confidentiality, and more on an affinity for skipping school and making out with older guys. That friendship had ended when they parted ways for high school, and after that point Sophie had found more comfort in her male relationships.

"Okay, you're good to go," Dr. Keller smiled, "but remember, even tingling should be checked out."

"Yes ma'am," Sophie slid off the table and resumed her exploration.

She chose another location at random on the transporter map and ended up in a corridor she hadn't been to yet. When the transporter doors opened, the corridor ahead of her was well lit, and she followed it to the end without seeing anybody, though doors on both sides of the corridor indicated more potential offices and labs. At the end of the hall, Sophie found a large door, which piqued her curiosity enough for her to pass through. When the doors parted, however, the corridor behind it was completely dark. Sophie hesitated for a moment, but as soon as she stepped through the doors, the power activated and lights flickered alive on both sides of the corridor. With the encouragement of lights, Sophie ventured further down the corridor, peering into the various rooms she passed along the way. She met nobody in the passage and though the rooms weren't empty, they clearly were not in use.

At the end of the corridor, she found the largest room, which was like the others, empty, but full of interesting objects. In the center of the room was what reminded her of a large computer, and she assumed it was a database of some form. Around the outside walls of the room there were multiple smaller computers, and on one wall a large window. Sophie crossed to the window and peered through it curiously. The room on the other side of the window was dark, but she could discern the vague outlines of what looked like cages.

Unable to refrain her curiosity, Sophie ran her fingers over the screen of the central computer; it flickered to life at her touch. She recognized some of the Ancient words and symbols on the screen, but not enough to interpret it in a moment. She studied it carefully for a moment, trying to decipher enough to understand the laboratory she was in, but she was interrupted.

"Don't move!"

Sophie felt her hear pounding as she heard the command from the doorway behind where she stood.

"Turn around with your hands where we can see them."

She did as she was told and turned to find a group of men surrounding her with guns aimed.

"Hold it!" Rodney stepped forward through the men. "Never mind," he shook his head, "she's fine. It's the new girl." The men lowered their weapons and Sophie started to breathe again.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't know there were places that were off-limits."

Rodney came towards her. "There aren't really, but this corridor isn't active. How did you activate it?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you turn the power on here?"

"I didn't," she insisted. "I just came in."

"And?"

"And everything turned on like every other place."

Rodney frowned. "You didn't do anything?"

"No."

He sighed and beckoned to one of the military men. "Take her to Dr. Keller. Have here tested for the gene."

"The gene?" Sophie hesitated. "The ancient gene?" She shook her head. "I heard about that, but how could I have the gene?"

"Just go…" He waved her away and the armed man guided her back to the transporter.

"I don't have the gene," Sophie argued as they headed up.

The military man shrugged. "Not really my area."

They stepped off the transport and entered the infirmary. Dr. Keller frowned when she saw them. "You're not hurt again, are you?"

"No," Sophie assured her. "Dr. McKay sent me."

"He wants here tested for the gene," the military man explained.

"The gene?" Dr. Keller seemed uncertain, but motioned Sophie onto a table. "I thought the might have tested you before you came."

"If they thought it was important, I'm sure they would have," Sophie agreed. "So, clearly this is irrelevant."

Dr. Keller smiled. "I know you aren't fond of needles, but if McKay thinks you should be tested…"

"Fine," Sophie resigned herself to the blood test and put out her arm. "Let's get it over with."

"Thank you for bringing her, but you don't have to stay," Dr. Keller dismissed the military man and he left with a curt nod.

"Do you have the gene?" Sophie asked as Dr. Keller began prepping the test tube and syringe.

"Nope," she shrugged. "I never took the gene therapy."

"How many people have the gene without the therapy?"

"Not many," Dr. Keller admitted. "No more than half a dozen."

Sophie frowned. "I don't know why I would have it."

"Why does McKay think you do?"

"No clue," she confessed.

"Miss Marlowe…" The girls looked up as Colonel Carter entered the infirmary. "I apologize for the overreaction. I hope we didn't frighten you too much."

Sophie shook her head, "just a little."

"You have to understand how alarmed we were to see that part of the city activating. We've been trying for weeks to get it turned on, but nothing we have tried has worked," she explained. "We had no way of knowing it was you down there, and our paranoia naturally kicked into high gear."

"Of course," Sophie nodded. "It's understandable."

Carter shifted her weight and watched quietly as Dr. Keller drew Sophie's blood. Sophie winced and again kept her eyes carefully averted from what the doctor was doing. When she had finished, she transferred the blood to the test tube, labeled it, and handed it off to an assistant to run the appropriate tests. A small drop of blood had oozed from the spot on Sophie's arm where the needle had been inserted, and Dr. Keller quickly covered it with a cotton ball.

"Put pressure here," she instructed. Glancing over her shoulder at Carter, Dr. Keller shook her head. "Is there anything else you need?"

She shook her head. "I just want to make sure she's all right."

"I took a lot of blood," Dr. Keller told her. "Sophie will probably be a little dizzy for a while, but other than that she's going to be fine."

Sophie nodded, and though she knew Carter was referring to the incident with the armed men, and not to her blood being drawn, she decided not to mention it any further. She would rather not be reminded of the incident, it was both embarrassing and a little frightening.

"All right, then I'm going to go and check up on Rodney. I'm sure he's already diverted a large team to the new area you have unlocked, and I'm eager to see what he's discovered." Colonel Carter glanced at Dr. Keller, "let me know what you find out."

"As soon as I have the results," she confirmed.

"Good," Colonel Carter smiled at Sophie and left.

"How long will the results take?" Sophie asked, still holding the cotton over her arm.

"A little while," Dr. Keller told her, "but you don't have to wait."

"Good," Sophie slid off the table and took a moment to control her dizziness. "I'll see you later, then."

"Hopefully not back here," Dr. Keller laughed.

Sophie didn't find the joke quite as humorous, knowing how klutzy she was by nature. Her brother had spent too many hours patching up her scrapes and broken bones. She waved to the doctor and left, deciding to return to her own room. Once there, Sophie resumed the unpacking, which she hadn't finished the night before. She had brought everything she thought she would need to feel at home, as she had been instructed, and so her room was coming together nicely. The shelves were full of books as well as framed pictures of her and her brother, and she had put up a few pieces of framed art on the walls, mostly an assortment of Salvador Dali and Roy Lichtenstein. Her deep crimson and gold duvet and decorative pillows had transformed the boring bed, and the floor had been covered with an exotic rug she had picked up on a trip to India the previous summer. Even the tiny adjacent bathroom felt more comfortable once she had hung up her favorite fluffy black towels and unloaded her toiletries into the mirror-covered cupboard.

Sophie completely lost track of time after mostly completing the unpacking process and curling up with one of her favorite novels in one of the two armchairs, which were tucked up against the window. It took her a moment to pull out of the story after hearing a hard, brisk knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The doors parted, and Shepherd, Ronon, and Teyla stood in the doorway.

"You're back!" Sophie stood quickly, dropping her book in the chair. "Did everything go okay? Did you find Lorne's team?"

"There were some minor complications, but everyone's back safe and sound," Shepherd explained. "We heard you had quite the day though."

"Umm, yea, I guess." They were still lingering in the doorway, so Sophie waved them inside, motioning to the armchairs, while she sat down on her bed. Teyla and Shepherd sat, while Ronon leaned up against the wall, arms crossed.

"I hear I'm not so special anymore," Shepherd smirked.

"Special?"

"The ancient gene," he explained, "you and I are a couple of the only ones who have it naturally."

Sophie pursued her lips. "Does that mean Dr. Keller and McKay have finished my blood testing?"

Shepherd nodded. "Carter thought we might like to tell you."

"Thanks." She hesitated. "I didn't hurt anything in that lab, did I?"

"I don't think so. I'm sure you'd have heard from Rodney by now if you had."

Sophie didn't know what else to say, so she sat quietly for a moment, fidgeting with the edge of her skirt.

"How long have you been hiding in here?" Ronon asked.

"I'm not hiding," Sophie protested.

Ronon looked skeptical.

"I just think it might not be a good idea for me to wander around anymore," Sophie told them.

"No one minds you exploring," Shepherd assured her.

She shrugged. "A dozen armed men make me feel differently."

"They sent armed men after you?" Shepherd asked.

"They were concerned," Sophie explained. "It's understandable…"

"Maybe so," Shepherd agreed, "but I'm sorry that happened to you. If it makes you feel better, they probably had their weapons set to stun."

"Strangely, it doesn't make much of a difference," Sophie told him.

"Sorry." He looked around the room. "Looks like you're pretty settled."

"I'm getting there," Sophie agreed.

"Still want to look through the storage?"

"Absolutely."

"Good, but let's have dinner first."

Sophie followed Shepherd and the others to the mess hall and they sat together to have their meal. Sophie could foresee many nights of group dinners such as this, and she liked the idea. She liked listening to them share stories of previous missions and describe people she had yet to meet. Halfway through the meal, Rodney joined them. He seemed clearly anxious, perhaps even agitated.

"Hi Rodney," Shepherd greeted him dubiously. "What's wrong with you?"

"What? Nothing. Why do you think something's wrong?"

"You're not eating," Shepherd observed.

"And you're sweating," Teyla added.

He ran his hand over his forehead, "am I?"

Sophie noticed him glance at her, and she started feeling anxious. "It's about me, isn't it?" She asked. "This is about me having the gene."

"Is she right?" Shepherd asked.

Rodney finally began to eat so he wouldn't have to respond.

"What's so strange about her having the gene? It's nothing new here anymore."

He mumbled something, but it was inaudible with the food in his mouth.

"Dr. McKay, what's wrong with me?"

"Sam told you that we've been trying to activate that area for a while now, right?"

"Colonel Carter?"

"Yes, Sam, Colonel Carter," Rodney waved his hand, "the point is, nothing has worked. We've tried overriding the system, using the gene…everything."

"And?"

"And you walk in today and it just turns on."

"Yea, sorry again," she stared down at her plate.

"Don't apologize," Shepherd interrupted.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Rodney agreed, "but there's a reason you were able to activate the area when no one else could."

"Which is what?"

"The trace of ancient gene in your DNA is stronger than any I've ever seen before."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know how to put it in any other words," he told her. "It's just what it is. You have more of the gene than anyone I've ever met. That must be why the room activated for you," he explained. "It recognized more Ancient in you."

"I'm more Ancient?" Sophie repeated.

"Apparently."

She analyzed Rodney's expression and hesitated. "Why do I feel like there's more coming…"

"Yes, now that we understand why you were able to activate that lab, there are a few other things I would like you to try…"

"Cool," Shepherd grinned, "I'm off the top of the list."

"The top of the list?"

"The go-to guy for Ancient activated stuff," he explained. "There's a ranking order." He patted her on the shoulder. "You've just been promoted." Sophie wasn't sure whether she should be complimented or terrified, but Rodney quickly began listing the things he would need her for. "Welcome to the team," Shepherd grinned, and Sophie groaned.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 1.2 Secrets

"I still don't understand why we all have to go," Rodney complained for the potentially hundredth time that morning.

Shepherd and Ronon exchanged annoyed glances, but Sophie answered. "You don't all have to go. I am more than capable of taking care of myself! I don't understand why the whole team should come."

"It's not about whether or not you're capable," Shepherd repeated his earlier protest. "But if something goes wrong, we want to be there."

"Do you really expect something to go wrong?"

"We never expect it," he explained, "that's why it's called 'going wrong'."

"I am sorry to have kept you waiting," Teyla apologized as she joined the rest of the group in the jumper bay. Her son was curled up asleep in her arms.

"You're bringing the baby?" Sophie questioned without thinking.

Teyla nodded. "His father will be most anxious to see him."

"Right," Sophie smiled and tried to quickly cover her gut response to the infant, "of course he will!"

"All right, let's go!" Shepherd headed onto the jumper and took the pilot's seat. Rodney automatically sat in the co-pilot's seat, while Teyla sat in the rear with her son. Sophie gave her a wide birth as she passed up into the front, and Ronon followed her forward.

"How long?" Ronon asked, leaning close to Sophie to whisper.

"How long what?" she whispered back.

"How long can you keep up the act with the kid?" He nodded back towards Teyla and her baby.

"The act?"

"You hate the kid."

"No I don't…"

He smirked. "You're a good liar, but not even you can hide how you feel about him."

"It's not just him," Sophie defended herself. "It's kids in general."

"You don't like kids?"

Sophie hesitated, not quite sure how to explain herself. "We don't mesh well," she tried. "They make me uncomfortable." Ronon laughed, and Sophie glared at him. "I don't expect you to understand. Just don't tell Teyla, okay? I want her to like me." Ronon grinned in a way that worried her. "You're not going to tell her, are you?" He shrugged. "Ronon…"

"Hey, what're you two plotting back there?" Shepherd asked over his shoulder.

Sophie quickly looked up, leaning away from Ronon and giving Shepherd her most innocent smile. "Nothing."

Shepherd glanced back at the two of them and shook his head. "Sure." He returned his focus forward, and Sophie turned back to Ronon.

"What did you mean when you said I was a good liar?"

"You like to keep secrets from us," he responded.

"Is that so wrong? Everyone has secrets."

"Yea, but I think you have more than most."

"Not really," she argued, "only those that are necessary." She analyzed him curiously. "You have secrets too."

"You like to think that, don't you?" he smirked.

Sophie frowned at his confusing response.

"You like secrets."

"I like figuring them out," she explained. "It's probably what makes me so good at my job."

"Don't waste time trying to figure out mine," he told her. "They're not for you."

She smiled. "And mine aren't for you."

He nodded and settled back into his seat.

"Coming in for the landing…" Shepherd announced.

Sophie readied herself for the impact; even though she'd been in the jumper a few times now, she still didn't feel comfortable with the landings. She felt Ronon's eyes on her, and realized he was laughing a little. She wanted to glare at him, but all her attention was devoted to clenching her teeth so as not to bite her tongue, and gripping tightly to the armrests of the chair to keep still on the shaky descent. She didn't breathe steadily again until Shepherd had completed the landing.

"What's the matter?" Shepherd smirked. "Nervous?"

Sophie unfastened her seatbelt. "Not nervous. A little nauseous."

"Is that a comment on my flying or Rodney's cologne?"

Rodney frowned.

"Rodney, why _are_ you wearing cologne?" Sophie asked.

"Is it wrong for a man to want to be at his best?" Rodney responded.

Shepherd seemed prepared with a sarcastic retort, but Sophie quickly cut him off. "No Rodney, it's good that you take pride in your appearance and smell," she smiled. "There are some who might benefit from your example…"

"I'm going to assume that comment wasn't directed at me," Shepherd decided.

"Assume away."

Shepherd grunted and led the way off the jumper. Ronon stood to follow him, sniffing himself discreetly as he passed in front of Sophie. She grinned and fell in line behind him without saying anything.

"Okay, here's how it's going to go," Shepherd began instructions the moment they were all off the jumper. "Teyla's going to make brief introductions and then she's got the day off. Rodney and I are going to exchange some supplies with Teyla's people, and Ronon, you will stay with Sophie."

Ronon nodded and directed Sophie in the direction Teyla was heading. Shepherd and Rodney headed a different direction towards the area that had been set apart for farming.

"My people are most eager to meet you," Teyla told Sophie as they walked.

Sophie, who was walking on the other side of Ronon to keep distance between herself and Teyla's son, responded with a smile. "I'm excited to meet them as well."

"You must remember the Athosians are a simple people, quiet and proud in their own way," Teyla explained. "But they are quite friendly and eager to make new friends."

"I'm sure we'll get along well," Sophie decided. "How many of your people are there?"

"Not as many as there once were," Teyla informed her. "The wraith have been cruel to my village, but Atlantis has been greatly beneficial to those of us who remain."

They rounded a corner of trees and stepped into a wide-open meadow, which had been developed into a village. There were at least two-dozen small huts set up in a circle, and each of them had their doors open and welcoming. As they approached, Teyla's people curiously emerged from their homes to greet them. A young boy, clearly no older than fifteen by his facial features, ran towards them eagerly; Ronon met him with his fists raised playfully. The boy laughed as the two boxed briefly, and then Ronon tussled his hair.

"This is Jinto," Ronon introduced, "he's Halling's son." Sophie nodded. She had heard Teyla mention Halling on numerous occasions. Of course, she had completely forgotten that he had a son. "Say 'hi' to Sophie," Ronon instructed the boy.

"Hi," he greeted her, still smiling. "We've been waiting for you."

Sophie stood as tall as she could, wanting to appear mature, but the boy towered over her by at least six inches. She managed to smile, but felt insecure.

"Jinto," Teyla smiled at him and he moved over to greet her with the customary touch to the forehead.

"How do you feel about grown up kids?" Ronon asked Sophie under his breath.

"Grown up kids?" Sophie smirked. "Like you?"

Ronon frowned, but was quiet as though he were trying to figure out exactly what she meant.

"Jinto, where is your father?" Teyla asked the kid, who was openly staring at Sophie; his curiosity was evident.

"In the fields," Jinto answered. "Should I go and bring him here?"

"No, that will not be necessary," Teyla told him. "He will meet with Colonel Shepherd and Dr. McKay and then he will come here on his own." She glanced at Sophie. "Jinto, I wonder if you will perhaps do me a favor."

He nodded eagerly.

"Sophie is going to be writing about our people—about our histories and cultures. She will need someone to introduce her to the people and answer all her questions. I would do it myself, but I am eager to be with Kanaan…"

Jinto glanced at Sophie. "I can do it."

"I was hoping you would feel that way. I could not think of anyone better suited to be her guide." Turning to Sophie, she smiled. "Jinto will see to it that you have everything you need."

"Great," Sophie smiled at him, "thank you."

"If there is anything Jinto cannot provide you with, I will be with Kanaan." She smiled at Sophie, Ronon, and Jinto and left with her son.

"Why do you want to write about us?" Jinto asked Sophie.

"To learn about you and your culture," she explained.

"What about our culture?"

"Anything," Sophie shrugged, "everything."

"I can tell you most anything you would want to know," he insisted.

"I'm sure you could," Sophie smiled. She liked him more and more by the moment. As Ronon had described, he was a 'grown up' kid, and it made interacting with him enjoyable, rather than frustrating. "Why don't you start by telling me a little about your village here?"

"The people or the place?"

"Both," Sophie requested. "I want to know about the people, and how you function as a civilization. Is your village separated into families or perhaps by purpose? Are their farmers and hunters?"

Jinto frowned at her. "You ask a lot of questions."

"I must ask questions in order to find answers so that I may better understand everything," she told him. "Perhaps I am a little over-ambitious though for the moment. Let's take it slower.

Ronon smirked.

"What?"

"You couldn't slow down to save your life. You barely stop talking as long as you're awake," he laughed and patted Jinto on the back. "You didn't know what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to guide her."

Jinto grinned. "It's all right," he told Sophie. "I've been told I talk a lot also."

Ronon sighed. "Fine, you two have your talk. I'll come back later." He made eye contact with Sophie. "You'll be okay, right?"

"Of course."

Ronon waved to Jinto and headed off across the field by himself, leaving Sophie and Jinto to continue with her mission. Two hours later, Sophie felt that she had only barely scratched the surface of all she would want to know about the Athosians, but she had met nearly everyone in the village and she did feel that she had a solid starting base to begin her writings, so she finally dismissed Jinto from her side.

"If you need anything else, you can always come to me," Jinto told her. "I like talking about my people."

"I can see that," she smiled. "You have been very helpful."

"Good." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I will say goodbye now." He lowered his head as was customary, and Sophie stretched her neck up to touch her forehead to his.

"One more thing, Jinto," she put her hand on his arm as he turned to leave.

"Yes?"

"Can you explain that?" She touched her forehead. "What does it mean?"

"It is how we greet and leave one another," Jinto explained. "It is a gesture of respect and affection. It reminds us that we always have each other, and despite everything bad, it is enough."

"I like that," she smiled. "Thank you for telling me."

"Sure," he shrugged and ran off.

Sophie wandered away from the village and found a quiet spot beneath a tree to sit and work on collecting her thoughts. She had taken some notes while Jinto was talking, but now she expanded the notes into more coherent and complete explanations, while the material was still fresh on her mind. She was completely absorbed in her thoughts when one of the young Athosian men approached her.

"Forgive me if I am interrupting," he spoke softly.

"Not at all," Sophie smiled up at him. "I'm sorry, I remember meeting you, but I have forgotten your name…"

"It's Bain," he reintroduced. "You're Sophie?"

"Yes," she set aside her notebook and motioned for him to sit down. "How may I help you?"

He sat beside her, staying silent for a moment, and then began speaking quickly and quietly. "You have been asking a lot of questions about my people's history and way of life…"

"I have," Sophie confirmed. "Jinto has been very helpful."

"I am sure he has, but he is very young, and he cannot know everything."

"You couldn't be much older yourself," Sophie observed.

"Yet I am old enough to know much more, also my father would never hide secrets from me."

"And what is it you know?"

He looked around briefly to make certain they were alone. "There is a legend in our history…a whisper…"

"Oh?" Sophie's curiosity piqued. Legends and secrets never failed to excite her. "Would you tell it to me?"

"The legend tells of a treasure—something from the time of the Ancestors, which has remained hidden for thousands of years," he began.

"A treasure?"

"The legend does not tell of what the treasure consists," he explained, "but it is supposedly quite extraordinary and of vast value. Furthermore, if found, this treasure is meant to reveal information beyond all possible desire."

Sophie couldn't help smiling; the thought of buried treasure hidden away somewhere for centuries stimulated all aspects of her curiosity and desire. She assumed Bain shared her curiosity and desire or else he wouldn't be telling her about it. She urged him to continue and he did so eagerly.

"Many have gone looking for it, but none have succeeded," Bain told her. "Most have given up hope completely, but there are some…"

"Like you I assume?"

"Yes," he agreed, "I still hope that it may one day be uncovered."

"Bain, why are you telling this to me?"

He grinned. "You like secrets, like me," he explained, "I can tell."

"That's true," she consented, "but this is more than just a secret."

He hesitated. "True, which should make it that much more intriguing."

Sophie grinned. "It's strange that we have just met," she told him, "you know me so well."

"As I said, you're a lot like myself."

"There is still something you haven't told me," Sophie insisted. "What are you hiding?"

He looked around again, but this time he seemed to simply be avoiding her gaze. She waited quietly and he finally spoke again. "There are hints, clues if you will, as to how to find this treasure, but it is not simple."

"Finding treasure never is," Sophie agreed, "or else it wouldn't be secret."

Bain nodded. "So, will you look for it?"

"Oh, Bain, I don't know if I can," Sophie suddenly realized why he was telling her all this. "I'm interested, of course, but I'm not in charge of the missions. I'm very new to this team, and I'm not sure I could convince them to embark on a treasure hunt."

"You could try," he argued. "This could be an essential piece of history, which you could use for your writings."

"I realize that," she assured him, "but like I said, it's not my call."

Bain was clearly disappointed.

"I'll try," she told him.

"Really?" he looked a little more excited.

"I can't guarantee anything though," she warned him.

He stood quickly. "I should go. There are some who might not like me talking to you about this," he explained.

"Really?" Sophie knew he had been hiding something from her. She stood to be closer to his height. "Why is that?"

"There are those who believe secrets are meant to stay that way." He lowered his voice. "As I said, many have tried, and many have failed."

Sophie wasn't sure what he meant by "failed," but she didn't have time to ask before he had hurried away, and Shepherd joined her instead.

"I thought I told Ronon to keep an eye on you."

"I don't need a babysitter," Sophie told him.

Shepherd looked slightly abashed, "I didn't mean as a babysitter…I just wanted him to look after you. For safety."

"I was plenty safe," Sophie assured him. "I think I bored Ronon. He bailed pretty quick."

"Well, did you at least get a lot of good info for your research?"

"I did," she confirmed. "Jinto helped quite a bit, and then I had a very interesting conversation with a young man named Bain."

"Yea? Good."

"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk with you about…"

"Okay, shoot."

"Umm," Sophie hesitated. "Well…"

"Spit it out," he demanded. "What's the big deal?"

"How would you like to go on a treasure hunt?"

Shepherd just stared at her for a moment with his mouth slightly agape. Then he grinned and started to chuckle.

"I'm not joking!"

He stopped laughing, but he was still grinning more than Sophie thought necessary. "A treasure hunt?"

She nodded and clasped her hands together beneath her chin. "Please?"

"What are you, five?" He swatted her hands. "Stop that."

She put her hands down instantly, feeling more than just a little silly. Pouting had gotten her far with her brother, and consequently it had become one her automatic instincts when she wanted something. She had to remind herself that she was not speaking with her brother, but with a co-worker, or her boss rather. Standing up straighter and lifting one eyebrow, she hoped she would come off more professional.

"Colonel Shepherd," she began, "I would like permission to organize an expedition to search for an ancient artifact that has never been found…"

He smirked. "I think I liked it better when you were pouting." He readjusted his grip on his gun and motioned for Sophie to follow him back towards the village. "So, tell me more about this treasure hunt."

"John, this isn't a good idea," Teyla persisted.

"Why not?" He whined. "Come on, it's a treasure hunt!"

Sophie snickered. "Now who's five?"

Shepherd scowled at her, but Teyla was very serious. "It is not a treasure hunt, it is an Athosian myth."

"Haven't you ever been curious about it?" Shepherd baited her.

"No," she answered firmly. "I was taught that curiosity can be dangerous."

"That explains a lot," Sophie muttered under her breath. Shepherd heard her, however, and almost seemed to smile, but he was focused on appeasing Teyla's anxiety.

"It's harmless, Teyla," he assured her. "We're just going to do a little exploring and see what we can find. It's no different than any of other missions."

"No, not at all, except that for this one you are falling clues left by an unknown person from thousands of years ago to a place that may or may not exist. And even if you can interpret the clues there is no guarantee that whatever this _treasure_ is will still be there at all."

"So many unknowns…" Shepherd grinned. "Makes it exciting, right?" He glanced at Sophie who nodded eagerly. "Look Teyla, if this really makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to be a part of the team. You are more than welcome to sit this one out."

She shook her head. "If this is your decision, I must be a part of it."

"Good, then let's go hunt some treasure!" He led the way onto the jumper, and the four others followed him. "Sophie, come sit up here with me!"

Rodney looked slightly aghast as Shepherd patted the arm of the co-pilot's chair. Sophie hesitated, not wanting to upset Rodney, but Shepherd urged her again and she took the seat.

"Isn't this Rodney's seat?" She whispered to Shepherd.

"It's the co-pilot's seat, and for this mission, you're the co-pilot," he explained. "It was your idea, and you're the one translating the treasure map."

Sophie liked the idea of having so much authority over one of their missions. It gave her an unexpected sense of belonging. So she glanced over her shoulder at Rodney, who had taken the chair behind her rather sulkily, and offered him a slightly apologetic smile before strapping herself in and facing forward to enjoy the ride from the very front. Shepherd maneuvered the jumper down into the gate room, and waved to those in the control room before backing the jumper through the Stargate.

"Are you sure about this address?" Rodney asked as they emerged on the other side of the gate. They had arrived in a deep forestry area, a thick patchwork quilt of green and brown. The sky was so clear it looked almost white, though there were no clouds, and there was no visible sign of a sun.

"Positive," Sophie answered. She glanced down at the piece of paper she had been translating from. It had been an Athosian heirloom, passed down for generations to the leader; Teyla had given it up reluctantly. She traced her finger over the first line of symbols. "This is the correct address."

"Okay, then let's find somewhere to make camp," Shepherd decided. "This could take a couple days."

"A couple days?" Rodney spoke up quickly. "No one said anything about a couple days! We're staying overnight? Where are we going to sleep? What are we going to eat?"

"Rodney, why do you think we packed so many extra rations?" Shepherd motioned towards the rear section where they had stored all the baggage.

"Come on Rodney, you know as well as I do that these clues are going to take a while to decipher completely," Sophie reminded him. "Not to mention these clues may only lead to the first step, which may then have a dozen other clues to figure out."

He let out a loud sigh and sank down in his chair.

"Do you think this planet's inhabited?" Ronon asked, leaning forward to see out the window.

"It's hard to tell with all these trees," Shepherd replied, "but it doesn't look like it." He brought up the HUD to evaluate the landscape. "There seems to be a clearing over in this area. It should make a decent place to camp."

"Now when you say 'camp'…"

"I mean camp, Rodney," Shepherd told him. "We've got tents."

"Tents?" Rodney sighed again.

"Don't worry, the dirt won't hurt you," Shepherd laughed.

Sophie secretly sympathized with Rodney. She hadn't camped since she was a little girl, and she didn't remember liking it much then, but she was determined to be brave and adventurous like the others and not whine like Rodney.

Shepherd directed the jumper towards the open space he had chosen and landed it in the clearing. Ronon and Teyla stood immediately and began gathering the supplies they would need to set up camp. Rodney collected his computer and other technological gear, while Sophie made certain she had gathered all the papers she had been deciphering. They disembarked from the jumper, and walked in a wide circle around it to find the best location to set up their camp.

"Here?" Ronon dropped his armload and planted his foot on top of the bundle as though claiming territory.

"Nope," Shepherd shook his head. "We're not setting up camp anywhere until we've checked out the immediate area. I want to know where I'm laying down at night."

Ronon withdrew his gun from its holster and set it to stun. "Let's go."

"Teyla, you stay with the two of them," Shepherd motioned to Rodney and Sophie.

"Stay?" She frowned. "Wouldn't I be better suited accompanying you and Ronon? Surely they do not need my help."

"It's not about help," Shepherd told her, "it's for safety."

"We don't need her protection," Sophie spoke up. "You checked the area for life signs and found nothing. We'll be fine."

Shepherd shook his head, "I don't want to leave you unprotected."

"We'll be fine," Sophie repeated.

"Yea, we'll be fine," Rodney echoed.

Shepherd looked uncertain, but allowed Teyla to join them. "You two will stay here," he told Rodney and Sophie. "No wandering. Got it?"

"Got it," Sophie and Rodney affirmed together.

Shepherd hesitated for one more moment before leading Teyla and Ronon off into the nearby circle of trees to explore. Sophie instantly sat down on a soft patch of grass and began studying the documents, trying to decipher more of the clues. The piece of information that had led them to this location had been at the center of the 'map,' and three smaller maps surrounded it, each with their own set of clues and directions. Based on the initial research she and Rodney had done, Sophie knew she needed to solve the clues for the central map in order to know which map to move onto next.

"I know there's something here we need to find," she mused aloud.

Rodney peered down at the map, over her shoulder. "Something on this planet?"

"Well, yes, obviously there's something on the planet, or else the map wouldn't have sent us here, but I mean there's something on the map that I'm missing," Sophie explained. "It led us to this planet, but what comes next?" She continued puzzling over the map. "This symbol here…" she pointed to it, "it shows up a lot, but this one is a little different…" She drew it on her sketchpad, carefully analyzing each of the details that differed from the original. "This line here, and this circle…" she smiled suddenly. "It's the next step."

"How do you figure that?"

"These added marks here are distances," she explained, "and these are directions." She stood suddenly. "I'm going to check it out."

"What?" He stopped her quickly. "You're not going anywhere."

"I have to see if I have these symbols right." She walked to the Stargate and used the symbols to decide which direction to go. "Do you have a compass?"

He handed it over rather reluctantly.

"All right, it says to go three hundred kilometers East," she deciphered, "and then five hundred South."

"Good, fine, when the others come back we'll do just that."

"I could be wrong though," she told him. "I want to check it out without them, just in case, so I don't waste any of their time."

"Shepherd told you to stay put," he reminded her.

"I'm not going far," she told him. "Look if you don't want to come with me, you can stay here and tell them where I went when they return."

"Oh sure, and when they return and see that I let you go off alone, I'll get a lecture from Shepherd. No thanks."

"So, you're coming with then?"

"Of course," Rodney sighed loudly, but packed up his main computer and followed Sophie East. "You'll need my help before long I'm sure."

Sophie doubted whether or not she would actually need Rodney's help, but she couldn't deny that she was glad he had agreed to join her. Despite her determination to see the treasure hunt through to the end, with or without help, she enjoyed the company.

The directions led them through the trees, in the opposite direction from where Shepherd and the others had gone. After a few minutes on mostly even ground, their direction took them down a steep hill. Sophie slid on the rocky ground, but managed to catch herself by clinging to a tree branch. Rodney kept his footing, but when he turned around to look at Sophie, he ran into a tree. He grumbled and swore under his breath.

"This is ridiculous."

Sophie laughed. "Just a wild guess, but when you were a kid, you never wanted to be a pirate did you?"

"A pirate?" He frowned. "Why would anyone want to be a pirate? They're dirty and they live on the ocean, and they're thieves."

Sophie laughed again. "They're also adventurous, and enjoy treasure hunts." She tripped on a tree root and stumbled again.

"You can't really be enjoying this, can you?" He helped her stand and pointed to the knees of her pants, which had been torn. "You're bleeding."

"Good observation."

"Maybe we should turn back," he suggested.

"No," she refused. "We're close."

"And you're hurt."

"It's just a scratch," she assured him.

"You're bleeding," he repeated.

"Not much." She gripped the tree branches along the way to keep herself balanced the rest of the way down the hill. "Just stay focused on our purpose."

Rodney continued mumbling to himself as the path evened out again and Sophie picked up their pace. He followed her, but continued looking backwards as if still longing to return to the jumper to wait for the others. After a few more feet, Sophie turned left and led Rodney South as the directions indicated.

"Did you bring anything to eat?" Rodney asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"It's barely been any time at all since breakfast. You can't possibly be hungry."

"I need to eat regularly to keep up energy."

"I have some power bars in my bag," she told him, "but I think you should save them until later."

"Later? How long do you think we'll be gone?"

"There's no way to know for sure," she explained. "It won't take us much longer to get there, but I don't know what to expect once we arrive."

Rodney let out another loud sigh, but stopped pestering her about the food or the distance for a short time. After nearly forty more minutes, Sophie stopped.

"Is this it?" he asked, whispering. "Are we here?"

"Why are you whispering?" she responded.

"I don't know," he looked around, pulling out his gun and holding it shakily in both hands.

"I don't think you need your gun," Sophie told him. "I don't think anyone's here."

"You don't know that."

Sophie ignored his paranoia and moved forward. "Do you see anything?"

"Nothing. This is a waste of time."

"You give up quickly."

"I'm hungry," he reminded her.

She pulled a power bar from her bag and held it out for him. He moved forward eagerly to take it from her, but when he stepped nearer to her, the ground beneath their feet suddenly gave way, and they fell through. The fall was not long, and the ground they fell onto was soft dirt, which kept them from serious injury.

"Not again…" Rodney groaned as he lay on the dirt for a moment, catching his breath.

"Again?" Sophie stayed still for a moment before forcing herself into a sitting position. "Do you fall down many dark holes, Dr. McKay?"

"It's been known to happen."

"We didn't fall that far," she observed. "I'm sure we can find a way out."

"After you."

Sophie stood and started inspecting the dark space into which they had fallen. "Maybe you could boost me up and I could get out…"

"And then how would I get out?"

"I can go for help," she told him, "and the others can come get you."

She encouraged Rodney to stand, but he didn't rush to help her out. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Do you have a better one?"

"Radios?" he reached into his pocket to retrieve his, but pulled it out in pieces. "The fall…" he shook his head. "I must have landed on it."

"I left mine on the jumper," she told him.

"Great." He looked up towards the opening. "I don't think I'll be able to get you up there."

"We won't know until we try," she insisted. "Come on." They moved to stand beneath the opening in the ground. Rodney stared up skeptically, but Sophie was already readying herself. "Okay, in order for me to get close enough, I'm going to have to stand on your shoulders."

Rodney frowned. "Really?"

"Yea, or else I won't be tall enough."

"Okay…"

"Get down," Sophie instructed.

"Are you sure about this?" Rodney did as he was told, but his body was tense.

"Sure," Sophie responded quickly, "I used to do this with my brother all the time." She waited until he was low enough for her and then swung her legs over his shoulders until she was sitting there. "Okay, now when you're standing, I'll stand up."

"I don't think this is a good idea," he persisted.

"Stop worrying so much," she snapped. "Do you wan to get out of here or not?" He stood slowly and when he was at his full height, she started maneuvering herself into a standing position. "Now, just hold perfectly still…" she placed one foot on his shoulder and pressed her hands against his head for balance as she pulled her other leg up as well.

"Sophie…" Rodney's body started quivering.

"Don't move," she instructed. She straightened up slowly, carefully unbending her legs into a standing position. Rodney held onto her feet, hoping to be of some help, but his knees were giving out beneath him.

"Sophie…"

"Just hold still for one more minute…"

"I can't!"

"Yes you can."

"No…" Rodney gasped as his strength failed and he tumbled to the ground; Sophie landed sprawled out a few feet away from him. He recovered himself quickly and rushed to her side. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yea," Sophie moaned, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He reached out to inspect her. "Nothing's broken?"

"I don't think so." She took a few deep breaths before attempting to sit up, but though she anticipated some severe bruising, nothing felt seriously hurt.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I told you that wasn't a good idea. I'm not strong like Ronon. I don't do stuff like that."

"You did fine," she assured him. She smiled. "If it helps, I wouldn't have been tall enough anyway. Even stretching, I couldn't have reached."

"Really?"

She nodded. "At least we tried though, so now we know for sure to rule out that option."

"That's one way to look at it, I suppose."

"Now we just have to find another way out." Rodney helped her stand and she brushed off some of the dirt from her clothing. "Get the flashlight from the bag and let's see what's down here."

"Why do we need the flashlight?" Rodney pointed up. "It's still light outside."

"It'll be dark soon though."

"Not really." Rodney looked at her. "I can still see you fine. I think we should conserve the flashlights."

Sophie glanced away from him. "It's darker over there though…"

"Wait, why are we going over there?" Rodney stood firmly where he was as Sophie started drifting away from him.

"I told you that we need to find another way out!"

"Maybe we should just wait here for the others."

"They could be hours," Sophie reminded him. "Maybe longer if it gets dark first."

Rodney still didn't seem convinced.

"If you want to stay there and wait for them fine," Sophie decided, "but I'm going on to look for another exit." She retrieved the flashlight and flipped it on as she headed away from Rodney.

"Sophie…" Rodney called after her as she headed into the darkness. "Sophie wait!" When she didn't respond he threw up his hands with a shake of his head and followed after her. "This is not a good idea…" he muttered to himself as he hurried to keep up with her. Sophie glanced over her shoulder when she heard him muttering and smiled.

Walking on, they soon realized they had fallen into some sort of underground cavern. It was clearly manmade, dug out for a purpose, but whatever purpose it once held had disappeared with the years. Now it was no more than a dark hollowed out area with dirt walls and floor with wooden boards occasionally put up against the walls for extra support. Rodney doubted that the support was very solid anymore, and he told Sophie so repeatedly, but she continued on without stopping.

"There has to be an exit," she kept insisting.

"All I see is more darkness," Rodney insisted. "This is pointless."

Suddenly Sophie yelped and stumbled forward, dropping the light in the process. Rodney's instinct was to recover the flashlight that had rolled a few feet ahead, but his logical thoughts told him to check on Sophie first.

"Are you all right?"

"Yea…" she groaned as she pushed herself to her knees. "I tripped over something…" she felt around on the ground where she had fallen and her hands touched something solid. "There's something here. Get the light."

Rodney retrieved the flashlight and knelt beside her in the dirt, shining the beam towards her hands. Sophie brushed aside more dirt and revealed a carving half-buried in the dirt.

"The symbols…" she leaned closer and motioned for Rodney to lower the light so she could see better. "They're the same as the map!"

"How can you be sure? It's all Ancient, isn't it?"

"Well yea, but these specific symbols are on the map, it's like an identity marker." She pointed them out to Rodney. "It's the next clue!"

"Are you absolutely certain? It was almost completely hidden. Wouldn't the clue be more accessible?"

"It probably was once upon a time," she decided. "Who knows how long ago it was put here though!" Sophie took the light from Rodney and started looking around the surrounding area. "Here!" She stood and touched a place on the wall. "There used to be something here…plaster or ceramic of some sort. The clue must have been up on the wall, but it's been so long that it's nearly crumbled to pieces."

"Can you make it out?"

Sophie returned to the clue on the ground and carefully brushed away the rest of the dirt that still covered it. "Do you have something to write with?"

Rodney pulled a notebook and pencil from the bag he was carrying and handed it to her. Sophie quickly scribbled down what she had deciphered and then stood. She was smiling widely.

"How can you be smiling?" Rodney demanded. "We're stuck underground with no foreseeable way of leaving…"

"But we found the next clue!" She held up the notepad. "Shepherd will find us."

Before Rodney had a chance to argue, she had turned around and headed back to where they had fallen in.

"I thought we were looking for an exit?"

"We're not going to find one." Sophie shined the flashlight into the darkness. "You were right. It's dark as far as we can see. Let's go and wait for the others."

……

"Rodney? Sophie? You guys down there?"

"Yes!" They called together.

A moment later, Shepherd and Ronon's heads peered over the edge of the hole. "Whatcha doing down there?" Shepherd called down.

"The ground gave way Genius," Rodney called back.

"You were supposed to stay at the jumper," Shepherd reminded them. "The ground probably wouldn't have given way there."

"You don't know that for sure," Sophie argued.

"Valid point, but at least if you had fallen there it wouldn't have taken us nearly two hours to find you."

Sophie didn't have a come back, so she stayed silent and let Rodney speak. "How about you save the squabbling until after we're back on solid ground."

Shepherd and Ronon exchanged slightly amused glances. "Hold on." They vanished, but a moment later they returned with a long coil of rope and sent it down the hole. "Sophie, you first."

"A rope?" Rodney stared at it dubiously. "You expect me to climb that?"

"Though that would be undoubtedly entertaining, I was thinking you would just tie it around your waist."

"Tie it how exactly?" Rodney continued staring at the rope.

"Here, I'll take care of it," Sophie cut in. She slipped the rope around Rodney's waist and quickly secured it in a tight knot. "He's good to go."

Shepherd and Ronon started lifting Rodney up out of the hole, grunting unnecessarily loudly as they pulled hand over hand. Rodney squirmed the entire way up, which made Ronon and Shepherd nearly yell in their shared frustration. Rodney finally made it to the top, and the other two heaved him up over the edge.

"Give us a second to get this rope off, Sophie…" Shepherd called down.

"And to catch our breath…" Ronon added.

"Seriously Rodney," Shepherd laughed. "Maybe you should cut back on all those snacks…"

"I am not fat!"

"Never said you were…" Shepherd snickered and a moment later the rope dropped into the hole again. "Your turn."

Sophie secured the rope in a wide loop and sat on it like a seat. She held tightly the bag of supplies and tugged on the rope. "All set."

Ronon and Shepherd pulled at the rope with a sharp jerk, and she almost lost her balance. They quickly adjusted their pulling strength and brought her up more smoothly. At the top, Shepherd made sure Ronon had hold of the rope and then lifted her the rest of the way out.

"Sorry for the rough start," Shepherd apologized as she slipped off the rope and rested on the grass. "Your weight surprised us."

"My weight?" Sophie frowned.

"Yea, you don't weight like anything. It threw us off."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or a criticism." Ronon and Shepherd looked at each other, but neither seemed to have an answer. Sophie ignored them. "Okay, we have the next clue…" she looked around. "Where's Teyla?"

"At the jumper…" Shepherd hesitated and suddenly took hold of Sophie's arm. "You're hurt."

"No I'm not," she disagreed.

"Umm, yea you are," he insisted. "You're bleeding."

"I am?" Sophie looked to see what he saw, but she couldn't twist around enough. "Where are you looking?"

"Right here…hold still." He touched a spot low on her back and when his finger connected with her bare skin she realized her shirt had torn. "See…" he pulled his finger away and showed her the blood.

"Oh…" Sophie frowned. "I didn't realize."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Not really," she answered. "Is it really bad?"

"Not bad enough for stitches, but bad enough that you should fee li."

"I have a really high pain tolerance."

"Clearly."

"So, where's Teyla?"

"At the jumper, I said," he repeated, "but now how about telling us what happened. How did you hurt yourself?"

"That probably happened when Dr. McKay dropped me."

"He dropped you?" Shepherd turned his accusatory glare towards Rodney, who promptly took a step back.

"It wasn't on purpose," he defended himself. "I'm not strong, okay? I couldn't hold her!"

"Really it wasn't his fault," Sophie agreed. "It was my idea to try standing on his shoulders to reach the opening, but he couldn't hold me."

"You couldn't hold her?" Ronon smirked. "She's like a feather."

"Well forgive me for not having muscles bigger than my brain…"

"It really wasn't his fault," Sophie reiterated.

"That's right…" Rodney confirmed.

"Regardless of how it happened, we should get you back to the camp and at least bandage that wound before it gets infected," Shepherd decided. "Teyla should be finished setting up camp by time we get there."

"Setting up camp?" Sophie shook her head. "No, that's not necessary. Dr. McKay and I found the next clue down there. We have a new gate address."

"A new gate address?" Shepherd moaned. "We just got here. I thought this is where we were supposed to be."

"It was, and now we must move on to the next location," Sophie explained. "It wouldn't be much of a hunt if the first clue took us to the prize, would it?"

"No, I guess not," he agreed. "Fine, let's hurry and get to Teyla before she puts too much work into the camp." He set off at a quick pace and Sophie fell into line behind him with Ronon and Rodney picking up the rear.

"Hey Sophie," Ronon spoke up suddenly, "come here for a minute."

She slowed down until she was walking beside Ronon. "What's wrong?"

"I just wanted to show McKay something," he told her.

"What?"

Before she could stop him, Ronon had lifted her off her feet and placed her on his shoulders. She squealed briefly from the shock and instinctively secured her hands in his hair as though she were riding a horse. He managed to hold his head up straight, and kept her balanced by holding on to her ankles.

"See?" He turned towards Rodney. "A feather."

"Is that really necessary?" Rodney complained.

"No!" Sophie assured him. "It's not at all! Ronon please put me down."

Shepherd stopped and turned around. "What's the hold up back there?" When he saw Sophie on Ronon's shoulders, he frowned. "What're you doing up there?"

"That is such a good question…" Sophie poked at Ronon's head. "He won't put me down…"

"He wanted to prove to me that he's stronger."

"Did that really need proving?" Shepherd grinned. "Come on Tarzan, put Jane down."

Ronon smirked at Rodney and lifted Sophie off his shoulders with ease and set her back on her feet. "Too bad I didn't fall in there with you. We would have been out of there in no time."

"Yes, and then Rodney and I wouldn't have found the next clue we need to proceed with our mission," Sophie retorted. She took a couple steps away from Ronon, walking close to Shepherd as they finished the walk back to the jumper.

"You found them," Teyla observed with a relieved smile as the group approached her. She had just finished setting up one tent and was prepared to begin on the second one.

"We did," Shepherd confirmed, "and sorry to tell you, but we're not camping here tonight."

"We're not?" Teyla glanced at the work she had already done and frowned.

"Rodney and Sophie have found the next address, so we're moving on."

"I see," Teyla nodded. "Then I suppose I should begin taking this down."

"Ronon," Shepherd nodded towards Teyla and Ronon quickly helped her tear down the tent, while Shepherd motioned Sophie towards the jumper. "Let's get a bandage on that cut of yours." Sophie followed him obediently, and Rodney trailed behind them.

"Are there any more power bars?" Rodney asked.

"What happened to yours?" Shepherd inquired

"_She_ won't give me any."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him. I gave him one an hour ago."

"There's a few in the box, Rodney," Shepherd told him.

"Ah, excellent…" Rodney hurried to retrieve the food.

"Okay, sit down here, and lift your shirt."

Sophie hesitated.

"Just enough for me to access the wound," he clarified.

"Oh, of course." Sophie sat on the bench where Shepherd had indicated and rolled her shirt up to the middle of her back. "Is that enough?"

"Yea, that's good." Shepherd cleaned her wound with supplies from the first aid kit, covered it with gauze, and then pulled her shirt back down. "All right, how about laying off the heroics for a while."

"I wouldn't exactly call climbing on Rodney's shoulders heroic…"

Ronon and Teyla joined the others on the jumper, carrying the packed supplies and Shepherd closed the jumper door once they announced they were ready to leave. Sophie took the co-captain's seat again to direct Shepherd; Rodney again sat behind her and this time Ronon joined Teyla in the back.

Shepherd placed his hands on the controls and started up the jumper. "Sophie, dial the gate."

Referring to the paper on which she had copied out the symbols that she and Rodney had discovered, Sophie punched in the address. The stargate flickered to life and Shepherd directed the jumper towards it.

"You know if we told Carter about this, she'd want us to send in a MALF before we fly to an unknown address…" Shepherd mentioned as he hovered the jumper just outside the stargate.

"You're probably right," Sophie agreed.

"So…" Shepherd glanced at her.

"So, we should probably just not mention this to her right?"

He grinned. "Right." He urged the jumper forward through the stargate.

……

"I can't believe we went all that way and went through all that just to end up exactly where we started," Rodney whined as he looked in the direction of the Athosian camp, which was a couple miles away from where they stood on the Atlantian mainland.

"Well, not exactly," Sophie tried to remain optimistic, while the others continued to complain. "We never would have found it if we hadn't followed the clues."

"Yea, that would've been a shame," Ronon grunted. Teyla didn't offer words, but her expression showed with whom she agreed.

"Now hold on there," Shepherd spoke up. "We all agreed this excursion was worth it, no matter what we found, or where."

"Thank you," Sophie smiled, but Shepherd tensed his jaw in a way that indicated he wasn't as calm as he pretended. "Okay," she quickly moved on. "Someone give me a hand here please…" she reached to lift the large flat boulder to which he clues had led.

"Here, step back," Shepherd stepped in and lifted the boulder for her. He set it aside and leaned in to inspect beneath the boulder. "There's nothing here."

Sophie shook her head. "We have to dig."

"Of course we do," Rodney sighed.

"Give me a shovel," Sophie held out her hand.

"Out of the way," Ronon stepped in and Sophie moved so he could take control of the digging.

Sophie stood beside Rodney and rocked anxiously on the balls of her feet while Ronon obliged. She grasped her hands together and chewed on her bottom lip. Shepherd took a second shovel after a moment and assisted Ronon with the dig.

"What do you think it is?" Rodney asked.

Sophie shrugged and didn't take her eyes away from the dig. She didn't' have to wait long before the shovels clinked against something hard. Ronon reached in and pulled out a small metal box. He held it and Sophie opened the latches on the box. The lid sprung open and everyone gathered around to peer in.

"A book?" Shepherd frowned. "We went through all this for a damn book?"

Sophie scowled at him. "What happened to 'no matter what'?" She carefully lifted the book from the box. She handled it delicately, afraid to damage something that was so priceless. She opened to the first page and smiled.

"What is it?" Rodney asked, trying to get closer to see.

"I can't be sure yet, but it's definitely in Ancient. It seems like a journal or something…"

"An Ancient journal?" Rodney reached to take the book, and Sophie glared as it slipped from her fingers into his hands. He started examining it immediately. "I can't even begin to imagine the wealth of information we may have just uncovered."

"We should get it back to Atlantis," Sophie decided. "We don't want anything to happen to it out here."

"She's right," Shepherd agreed quickly. "Put it away Rodney."

He seemed reluctant, but returned the book to the box and relocked it. Ronon handed the box off to Rodney to carry, so he could keep his gun in position as they headed back to the jumper.

"I can't believe we did it!" Sophie was nearly skipping. "We found it!"

Shepherd grinned at her. "I'm glad you talked me into it."

"Yea, it took so much convincing."

"Maybe not," Shepherd shrugged.

They reached the jumper and Shepherd led the way on board. Sophie instinctively headed towards the co-pilot's seat, but Rodney protested since she no longer needed to direct Shepherd. She took the seat behind Rodney without argument. Teyla, who had remained fairly quiet since they had found the final clue, once again sat in the back by herself.

"I just can't believe all those clues actually led somewhere," Ronon glanced at the box now in Sophie's hands. "I'm still not convinced it was worth it, but…"

"Oh trust me, it will be." Sophie stroked the box adoringly.


	3. Chapter 3

Episode 1.3

"_Do you see anything interesting Colonel?" _Carter's voice crackled over the intercom. 

"If by interesting you mean a whole lot of nothing…" Shepherd responded.

"_Yes, that's exactly what I meant_."

"There are some mountains," Teyla replied more positively to Carter's questions. "And we see lots of green. Nearly eighty percent of this planet seems to be covered with forest."

"_And the other twenty percent?" _

"Mountains, valleys, and some water," Shepherd listed.

"_Anything to indicate civilization?" _

"Not as far as we can see."

"What's that?" Sophie pointed straight ahead.

"Good question…" Shepherd brought up the screen, which showed a map of the sky ahead of them. "Umm…yea…"

"Is that what I think it is?" Rodney spoke up.

"_What's going on out there?" _

"Just a second Colonel, we might have a problem here." Shepherd clicked off the radio and put all his attention into the intensely darkening sky.

"What is it, Colonel?" Sophie asked, leaning forward in her seat to see.

"A storm," Ronon muttered.

"A storm?" She repeated. "Is that bad?"

"It could be," Shepherd decided, "depending on how large it's going to get."

"And how quickly it moves towards us," Rodney contributed.

"Which, judging by these readings, is pretty damn quick." Shepherd pointed to the screen and the others crowded around.

"Can't we just fly through it?" Sophie asked.

"Not if we want to live," Rodney mumbled.

"Oh," she quieted and sat back in her seat.

"Atlantis, this is Shepherd," he returned to the radio. "We've got a bit of a situation here. There's a storm brewing, and I'm not sure how we're going to get through it."

"_Can you out-fly it?" _

"It's blocking our way back to the Stargate," Shepherd explained.

"_What are you options?"_

"I think our best option is to find somewhere to wait it out," Shepherd decided.

"Easier said than done," Rodney added. "This storm is going to be very big."

"_How big?" _

"Big enough to reach us pretty much anywhere on the planet."

"Which is why we're going to wait it out," Shepherd repeated. "But we're probably going to lose the radios."

"_Are you sure this is the best decision, Colonel?" _

"Not at all," Shepherd admitted. "We'll contact you when the storm's over. Shepherd out." He disconnected from the radio completely. "Okay, let's look for somewhere to park it." The HUD activated again, highlighting an area on the terrain, which seemed to be a low valley tucked in between a couple tall mountains. "Perfect. We're going there."

"Down in the valley? Are you sure that's the safest place for us to be?" Rodney analyzed the map carefully.

"I do not believe we have many options," Teyla mentioned. "It would be wise to be low, rather than on high ground."

"I agree," Shepherd confirmed. "And the sooner the better. This storm's coming a lot faster than I'd like."

The others gave Shepherd silence to concentrate as he flew the jumper lower, following the directions from the HUD. He located the valley easily and landed the jumper with only little difficulty.

"I don't like it," Ronon decided quickly.

"Yea, well, it doesn't make me especially comfortable either, but I think it's the best we're going to get." Shepherd shut down the jumper. "Hopefully it won't last too long. We'll be back to Atlantis soon enough."

"And in the meantime?" Ronon leaned on the back of Teyla's chair.

"We will make the best of the situation," Teyla told him.

"What if the storm isn't over quickly?" Rodney spoke up suddenly. "What if we're stuck here for hours, or days? We could run out of rations…we could run out of food!"

"I'm sure it won't be days," Shepherd reassured him. "Twenty-four hours at the most."

"Twenty-four hours is plenty of time to go hungry," Rodney insisted.

"No it's not," Shepherd argued. "Look, like Teyla said, we've just got to make the best of this situation and relax until it's all over."

"I agree," Sophie announced. "This doesn't have to be a negative situation." She glared at Rodney. "Let's think positively."

"Positively?" Rodney scoffed. "What is there to think positively about?"

"All right," Sophie stood from her seat to stretch, "enough of your pessimism, Mr. Pessimism."

"Clever," Rodney muttered.

Ronon was smirking.

"No, Sophie's right," Shepherd agreed. "We should make the most of this situation. How often do we all get to spend free time together without worrying about a mission?"

"Technically, we're still on a mission," Rodney pointed out. "And I wouldn't exactly call this my ideal use of free time."

"Really, this is good," Shepherd leaned back in his chair.

"Really?" Rodney frowned. "Explain to me how this is a good thing."

"It'll give us all a chance to get to know each other better."

"Get to know each other?" Rodney repeated. Ronon looked equally bored with the idea. "Shepherd, we've been working together for four years. I think we know each other fine."

Sophie stared down at her lap. She had a feeling she knew exactly why Shepherd thought they should get to know one another, and she didn't like being the cause.

"You think you know me well enough?" Shepherd smirked. "What's my favorite color?"

Rodney shrugged. "Why would I care about favorite colors?"

Ronon glanced at Sophie and then at Shepherd. He shrugged. "I like blue."

Shepherd grinned. "That's good. Thank you Ronon."

"Yea, it reminds me of wrath blood," he added.

"Oh…" Shepherd nodded, "okay, yea, I get that."

"So, what's yours Shepherd?" Sophie asked.

"Um, black."

"Black?" Rodney shook his head. "That's dismal."

"Why does everyone associate black with badness?"

"Not badness necessarily," Ronon clarified. "Just darkness."

"And you don't like darkness?"

Sophie smiled, "I do."

"Thank you," he smiled appreciatively. "And what's yours?"

"Umm, red."

"Red? Like blood?" Ronon asked.

"No, not like blood," Sophie clarified quickly. "Red is the color of love and passion."

"And blood," Ronon mumbled.

Sophie rolled her eyes and turned to Rodney. "What's yours?"

"I don't have a favorite color," he answered.

"Everyone has a favorite color."

He shook his head. "I don't like choosing favorites. It all seems rather irrelevant, doesn't it?"

"Yea, you're no fun," Sophie turned to Teyla. "Please have a better answer than Dr. McKay."

Teyla smiled. "I've always been fond of yellow. Like the warm rays of the sun…"

"See, now that's an answer," Sophie smiled. "That's beautiful Teyla."

"Yea, I wouldn't mind seeing those golden rays right about now…" Shepherd muttered as he leaned forward to look out the wide front window of the jumper. The rain was now pounding hard against the window, leaving splatters larger than Shepherd's hand. He turned away from the window abruptly. "Okay, next question…umm…favorite animals?"

"No, even better," Sophie interrupted, "if you were to be an animal, which would you be?"

"Why would I want to be an animal?" Ronon asked.

"It's not that you would want to be an animal necessarily, but it's about imagining yourself as one…" Sophie tried to explain.

He looked at her skeptically. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I agree with Ronon," Teyla spoke up. "I feel quite satisfied as a human. Why would I want to imagine myself as something else?"

"It's just a game," Shepherd tried to assist in the explanation.

"It's a weird game."

"Which animal you choose reflects your personality."

"For instance," Sophie took over, "Ronon would be a tiger." She laughed. "Or a lion. One of those fierce felines."

"Absolutely," Shepherd agreed.

Ronon frowned. "What's that?"

"It's sad," Sophie commented, "how little they know…"

"I know plenty," Ronon argued. "I just don't know about your weird earth stuff."

"Lions are a particularly ferocious animal with sharp claws and sharper teeth. They are insanely fast runners and destroy anything in their path."

"That sounds about right," he confirmed. "I think I'd get along well with these lions."

"They aren't tame animals, Ronon," Sophie told him.

"Neither am I."

"Rodney would be a peacock," Shepherd spoke up suddenly.

Rodney turned to him quickly and glared. "A peacock? Really?"

Sophie couldn't stop laughing.

"Yea, you know the way their feathers get all puffed up when they're trying to show off…" Shepherd grinned, but Rodney was still glaring.

"No, I must say I would imagine myself more as lone wolf…wise, strong, and confident on my own…" he smiled at the thought, but his seriousness only made Sophie and Shepherd laugh harder. Even Teyla and Ronon chuckled, though they weren't sure exactly what he meant.

"Based on your description, I would say John is more likely a lone wolf than Rodney…" Teyla suggested.

Sophie scrunched up her nose and analyzed Shepherd. "Not exactly. He's too gentle to be a wolf. Maybe more like a dog—a golden retriever."

Rodney laughed.

"A Golden Retriever?" Shepherd repeated.

"Yea, that probably didn't sound as good as I meant it to," Sophie realized. "I sort of meant it as a compliment…"

"Sort of?" Shepherd laughed. "That wasn't very reassuring."

Sophie blushed. She was still learning to think before speaking everything that popped into her head, realizing that tact was something that was expected in a mature adult. "I just meant that dogs are very faithful and determined and courageous…"

"I got it." He reached over and patted her knee. "Okay, what about the girls?" He motioned to Teyla and Sophie.

"Teyla would be something graceful," Ronon decided. "Something sleek and fast, with agility and skill…"

"Thank you," Teyla smiled. "I think I appreciate what you are saying."

"Like a deer," Rodney contributed.

Shepherd nodded. "Yes. A deer would be perfect."

Sophie smiled her consent. "I can picture her running through a forest, leaping and bounding without any hesitation."

"Bounding?" Teyla repeated. "I bound?"

"You could, I think, if you wanted to." She smiled. "It's a good thing. Deer are amazing creatures." She looked around the group. "What about me? What would I be?"

Everyone was silent for a moment as they contemplated Sophie, and finally Ronon spoke up. "There's an animal on my home planet called a Noruka…"

"Noruka?" Sophie scrunched up her nose as she tried to properly pronounce the word.

"Yea, the Noruka is a small furry animal that moves quickly and has an incurable curiosity. It's always sniffing around in things that are better left alone." He smirked. "But it's small, and kind of cute."

Sophie contemplated the list of qualifications he had given to her by way of the named animal and picked out the ones she had problems with. "Sniffing around in things? Are you suggesting that I put my nose where it doesn't belong?"

Ronon grinned, but didn't answer. Shepherd, however, was resisting the urge to laugh and failing miserably. One glance at Rodney and Teyla showed Sophie that they more or less agreed with Ronon's choice.

"So I'm a little curious," Sophie gave in, "but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing."

"Not bad, no," Shepherd agreed, "but definitely noteworthy."

"All right fine, I'm a curious, furry Noruka," Sophie agreed.

"Next question," Shepherd decided.

"Pet peeves," Sophie decided. "What drives you crazy?"

Rodney looked more than just a little excited as he spoke: "Me first."

The others waited quietly for him to speak.

"I can't stand it when people don't respect personal space."

"Personal space?" Sophie followed up.

"Yes, you know, when people come too close, in my face or in my space…" he shuddered.

Ronon instantly moved over to where Rodney was sitting and leaned down until they were eye level. Ronon grinned as he moved in towards him and Rodney started fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Ronon, what are you doing?" He squirmed in his chair.

Sophie leaned across her chair towards Rodney who was sitting beside her and placed her hand on his arm, moving closer every moment.

"Stop it you two!" He leaned backwards in his chair, trying to move away from both Ronon and Sophie, but they continued towards him. "Stop it!"

Shepherd laughed and moved over to join the harassment. He stepped up on Ronon's other side and pressed in on Rodney.

"You guys, stop it!" He held up his hands, trying to push all three of them away.

Sophie was the first to surrender, laughing as she settled back in her chair.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea," Rodney muttered as the others finally moved away from him and gave him back his space. "If we are all aware of one another's greatest annoyances, they can be more easily exploited."

"Exploited?" Shepherd laughed.

"I would like to think our friendships have moved beyond the point of where we would knowingly irritate one another," Teyla spoke up. She glanced at Ronon and Shepherd, lifting an eyebrow to make her point.

"Teyla's right," Shepherd held up his hands to halt Rodney's complaining. "This is supposed to be helping us get to know one another better so we can work better as a team, not give us ammunition against each other."

"Fine," Rodney turned his eyes on Shepherd. "So what's yours?"

"I don't have any pet peeves," Shepherd answered promptly. "Nothing bothers me."

"Liar," Rodney muttered.

"Come on John, this is to help us bond, remember," Teyla encouraged. "You must tell us."

Shepherd considered it for a moment and glanced around at the others a little hesitantly before answering. "I hate being woken up before my alarm goes off."

"You mean like when someone intentionally wakes you up, or you wake up for no good reason and then can't fall back asleep?" Sophie clarified.

"Either, but I guess mostly when I'm woken up by someone or something before it's time to get up."

"What if there is an emergency?" Teyla questioned. "Should you not be woken then?"

"Well, yea if there's an emergency, obviously…"

"But any other time, we should just let you sleep?"

"I'm just saying," he shrugged, "a guy deserves a few hours of beauty rest a night."

"No argument here," Rodney agreed. Ronon shrugged indifferently, but after only a couple weeks, Sophie had already learned how much he valued sleeping in.

"Ever since my son was born, I am having a difficult time remembering what it was like to have an uninterrupted night's sleep," Teyla mentioned. "He chooses the hours in which we may rest and those in which we must play."

Sophie cringed at the thought and spoke without thinking. "That must be awful."

Teyla frowned slightly at Sophie's tone, but then smiled gently. "Not really. My son has blessed me in so many ways. Staying up nights with him is hardly difficult when I remember how much he means to me. I would give my life for him."

"And you almost have," Shepherd reminded her.

Sophie felt a little guilty for speaking her mind without considering Teyla's feelings on the matter, but she smiled and hoped Teyla wouldn't hold it against her. "So what bothers you, Teyla?" she tried to change the subject quickly.

Teyla considered it for a moment and responded with her naturally calm smile, "I suppose I dislike it when people say they will be somewhere at a certain time and then do not show as promised."

"Note to self, never stand up Teyla…" Sophie said.

Teyla smiled and nodded. "Thank you Sophie, I would appreciate that, but I didn't say it to pressure any of you…" she glanced at Ronon.

Ronon avoided her gaze and quickly took over the conversation. "I don't like people eating my food," he announced.

Sophie couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"I'm serious," he insisted, "it's not right. It's my food. If you're hungry, you should get your own food."

"You eat my food all the time!" Rodney reminded him. "And just to point out, I don't particularly like people eating my food either."

"Food, really? That's your biggest pet peeve, Ronon?" Sophie laughed again.

"Trust me," Shepherd interrupted, "you do not want to come between this man and his food. I've almost been stabbed by a fork a few times."

"I told you, your hand got in the way." He glared at Shepherd.

Shepherd rolled his eyes and turned to Sophie. "How about you? Are you a stickler with your food too?"

"Can't say I am," she told them. "I think one of my biggest pet peeves is sweat."

"Sweat?" Ronon and Shepherd repeated in unison.

"Yep," she shrugged. "It drives me crazy when people have been working out or just out in the hot sun and they're all sweaty and they don't bother to wash off. It's like they don't realize how incredibly disgusting it is to be soaking wet with your own bodily fluid and odor. Seriously, just take a shower. Sweat is not attractive."

Rodney nodded. "I have to agree."

"Sweat just means you've been working hard," Shepherd argued.

"I don't have a problem with hard work, but I don't think it needs to be flaunted with unnecessary wetness," Sophie explained.

"I see." Shepherd pursed his lips and Sophie assumed he didn't actually understand where she was coming from. Ronon looked equally confused, but stayed quiet, as he was prone to do. "So, next question?"

Teyla raised a hand briefly. "What about the fondest memories we have from our childhoods?"

"Hunting," Ronon answered promptly.

"Big surprise," Rodney muttered.

"How old were you the first time you went hunting?" Sophie asked.

"Four," he answered.

"Four!"

He nodded. "My dad took me. He took me a lot when I was younger. We would stay out for a week at a time, hunting and cooking our kill. He would share his own battle stories with me and give me advice for when it was my own time…" He smiled fondly. "When I started my training I heard a lot of stories and advice from my instructors, but nothing ever influenced me the way my dad's stories did."

"It's nice that you have those memories," Sophie told him.

"How about you? Any good stories with your dad?" Ronon asked. "Did he ever take you hunting?"

"Yes actually," Sophie answered, "but those weren't always good stories."

"So what were your good stories?"

"My mother," she answered easily. "Almost all the memories I have of my mother are good ones."

"But not all of them?" Shepherd clarified.

"My mother died when I was very young, so I don't have as many memories of her as I would like," she explained. She closed her eyes to remember more clearly. "She used to bake these cookies. They weren't anything familiar—her own special recipe. Every time she made them she would add something new until they were filled with the most disgusting assortment of sweets: chocolate chips, butterscotch, marshmallows, peanut butter, caramel…" Sophie laughed. "But I loved them, and my dad loved them. She would make them when he was at work and when he came home, he would always be happy to see the cookies. We would eat them instead of dinner and we would all laugh and dance around the living room to one of her old Elvis records." She stopped talking suddenly. "That was a long time ago."

"Where's your dad now?" Ronon asked.

Sophie looked away from the others and almost whispered her response: "He's dead. My brother's all I have. He's really all I've ever had. He basically raised me."

"It must be difficult for you to be apart from him now," Teyla commented.

Sophie nodded, but didn't think she had the strength to answer. Thinking of her brother made her remember the regrettable terms on which they had parted. She hated to think that he might still be resenting her decision to leave. She couldn't imagine what he would think if he knew where she really was and the sort of things she was doing.

"All right, that is quite enough about me," she broke her silence suddenly. "Teyla, how about you?"

"Mine also involve my family," she decided. "My father spent much time with me when I was young, making sure I would be prepared to lead our people once he was no longer able. Though most of our time was devoted to my training, there were days when he would take me away from the village purely for enjoyment and not work. He would show me places where he liked to be by himself and tell me that he wanted to share them with me. Like those caves I showed you John," she turned to him and he nodded, remembering. "I always enjoyed my training, but I most enjoyed those days."

"Hmm," Rodney mused, "my dad and I had a much less adventurous childhood."

"Did you have good memories with him though?" Sophie asked.

"Yes," he nodded, "of course. He was always very engaged with my sister's and my life. My father was a very intelligent man and he was pleased to see that we took after him in that area."

"So then what was your best memory?"

"He used to make crosswords puzzles for us when we were younger. They would give us answers to riddles we would have to answer before we could have dessert or watch television."

"God that must have sucked," Shepherd frowned.

"Actually it was quite enjoyable."

"Whatever."

"What was yours?" Sophie asked him.

"Christmas morning was always a good time. It was the one time the family didn't argue, which was weird, because we fought about everything. Christmas was like magic though. Nothing bad could happen on Christmas."

"Christmas is magical," she agreed. "Especially when there's snow."

Shepherd nodded. He stood suddenly and gazed out the front window of the jumper. "You know, the rain hasn't really been letting up at all."

"It will eventually," Teyla told him. "It cannot continue forever."

"What if it does?" Ronon suggested.

"It won't," Shepherd grinned. "Teyla's right. It has to stop."

"But what if it doesn't?" Sophie had joined Shepherd at the window and had her nose nearly pressed up against the glass. "It's really coming down, and it's been at it for hours."

"I know."

"The river's starting to flood."

"If it comes up any higher it could create a problem for us."

"We still have a while before we need to worry about that though," Rodney decided.

"How long?" Sophie asked.

"If the storm keeps up at this pace…" Rodney squeezed his eyes shut and then sighed. "Thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes?" Shepherd shook his head. "And what are the chances the rain will stop before that?"

Rodney didn't have to answer.

"Okay, so what does that mean?" Sophie asked. "What do we do?"

"First off, we don't panic," Shepherd told her. "We'll figure this out."

Sophie returned to her seat, but her back remained stiff and her fingers began tapping out a nervous concerto on her thigh.


End file.
